Let the Games Begin
by PlayingKitti2011
Summary: Bella is the badass new girl at her new prep school and she doesn't plan on making any friends. That is until she finds herself in a steamy situation with Mr. Popular himself. What's a girl to do with that? Play with him, of course. AH. Rated M for lang.
1. Prologue

_**Let the Games Begin**_

**by**

**PlayingKitti2011 (a.k.a. Cat)**

**A/N: Hello, ladies and gents, I'm back with another story. I also go by DarkGoldenEyedAngel, but considering this story is rated M, I couldn't exactly let my father see it (he reads my stories on occasion) and he doesn't enjoy dropping the f-bomb as much as I do, so here I am. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story. It will be mostly from Bella's POV with a spattering of our favorite boy's thoughts and feelings. If you think it's funny, then awesome, if not… oh well.**

**Well, enough of my ramblings (if you've read my other stories, you know I ramble on occasion) and on with the reading. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of these characters, I'm just messing with them for the time being (and giving them dirty mouths to boot. Teehee.)  
>P.S. I'm not saying this again, so this applies for the rest of the story. 'K? 'K.<strong>

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><p><em><strong>Prologue<strong>_

**_I Didn't Know Hell Looked Like the Set of 90210_**

_Seattle, WA - Early August_

I quickly climbed up the tree that grew outside my window and quietly slid the window open. I turned around on the branch and slipped into my dark room, landing softly on the hardwood floor. I listened carefully for the sound of my father's distinct snoring coming from down the hall.

I let out a sigh of relief when the loud rumbling rang through the house and quietly slid the window closed. I turned around and headed for my dresser. I pulled out a pair of gym shorts and a tank top to change into for bed.

"Nice of you to drop by, Isabella."

I squeaked and jumped, spinning around to find my mother sitting in the chair in the corner of my room. I rolled my eyes and started walking towards the bathroom again. "Mother, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

I closed the door to the bathroom and changed. I opened the door to find my mother standing up now, her arms crossed over her chest, a look that screamed "you are so about to get it" etched on her face. _Pssh, whatever._

You may be wondering why I'm being so calm about this situation. Any other teenager would be freaking out if their parents caught them sneaking back into the house in the middle of the night. Not me. This is a common occurrence in the Swan household.

That's me, by the way. Isabella Swan. Call me Isabella though, and I will find a way to shove my foot up your ass. Only my mother, father, and some choice persons that will not be named for the sake of my mental stability call me "Isabella".

And what's so bad about Isabella, you ask? Well, it's not the name per se, it's the connotation that certain people have bestowed upon it. Oh, and the different tones that are associated with it.

Isabella. Irritated tone. I've maybe possibly done something bad and/or slightly illegal. Nothing that could be proven though.

_Isabella_. Disappointed tone. I may have punched a douche or twenty in the nuts for trying to cop a feel. It isn't like they didn't deserve it.

Isa_bella_. Incredulous tone. I could have maybe made an entire row of tables at one of the largest social events of the year collapse, spilling everything onto the mayor of Seattle's lap. Or when I decided that I wanted to mix up my appearance a bit, so I got royal blue streaks running through my dark brown hair. The parentals didn't like that too much. _I_ thought it looked quite attractive. And it kept away most of the pussy-assed pansies that were trying to get into my pants. Something about me looking "hardcore" and "bitchtastic." Eh.

And my personal favorite, _ISABELLA_. Outraged tone. I may have snuck out of the house to go down to one of the clubs (and by club, I mean piano bar) in downtown Seattle. The owner let me play here and there. (By the way, I'm really into music. It's my passion, but we'll get into that later.) Anyway, while I was there, my parents' best friends may have spotted me. And considering the club was for persons eighteen and older, they weren't too pleased to see me. You see, my parents don't really understand why I play my music. They think that young ladies my age should be focusing on cotillion and debutante balls. Yeah, like _that_ was going to happen. I'd rather saw off my limbs with a rusty butter knife. But I digress. My parents were informed and I was taken home and scolded thoroughly about how my behavior was "embarrassing" and could "hurt the family's social standing" in the city.

I snuck out again the next night.

To sum the rest of me up I'd have to say that I'm seventeen. About five foot five. Dark brown hair with bright blue streaks. Brown eyes. Pretty decent sized rack. While I'm not really into the whole dating scene, I can't help but say that I've never lacked attention of the male variety (even if most - no, all - of it is unwelcome). My parents are freakishly rich social climbers who care about nothing (this also includes their daughter) except their money and their social status, and they let everyone know it. They try to force their way of life on me, but, as you can see, it's not working too well.

I looked back at my mother, a bored expression on my face. This was beginning to get old. My mother or father would wait up in my room and catch me sneaking back in. They would scold me and attempt to punish me (and fail miserably). And then the process would repeat again.

But today, something looked different. My mother wasn't trying to lecture me or punish me or tell me that I'm an embarrassment to the family name. No, today she was sitting there calmly, not saying a word. I waited for her to say something.

"We're done, Isabella," she finally said.

"Who's done?" I asked, hesitant.

"Your father and I. We don't know what to do with you anymore. You won't listen to us, or anyone for that matter. You won't do what you're told. You're constantly embarrassing this family." And there it is.

I couldn't help but scoff at her. "Maybe I won't listen to you because I know that whatever you say is something I that couldn't care less about. Maybe I don't do what I'm told because everything you tell me to do is for your benefit and not mine. Maybe some embarrassment is exactly what this so-called family needs."

My mother just shook her head, her face turning red in anger. "Isabella, you will not talk to me that way. This is the last straw. We've had enough of your foolishness. Your father and I have decided that you might need some help getting straightened out. You'll be attending St. Alexander's Academy this year for school. Pack your bags. You leave in two weeks."

My jaw dropped. _Boarding school?_ I was _pissed_ now. "You can't be serious? You _cannot _be serious? Are you freaking kidding me? You're just going to send me away now to some stuck up prep school, hoping that by the time I come back, I'll be the perfect daughter who'll want to have tea parties and play house with some dumbass lawyer or accountant? Is that right? Is that what you want? If it is, I hope you like disappointment because none of that shit is going to happen. Ever." I could feel my face burning with anger.

My mother, if you could even call her that, just looked back at me, her face completely void of emotion. "Either way, you leave in two weeks. Start packing." And with that she closed the door in my face, leaving me pissed and broken on the other side.

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><p><em>Huntington Beach, CA - Mid-August - Last Day Before Classes Start<em>

As my cab drove through the streets of Huntington Beach, I looked out the window and, honestly, I was not pleased with what I saw.

First off, it was sunny. The sun and I don't have the best of relationships. No matter what I do to try to keep myself from getting burned, I always did anyway. My pastiness didn't exactly help much.

Second, there was a beach. Beaches meant sand. And I hate sand more than the sun. It gets into places where it shouldn't be able to get into, and it made me chafe. _So_ not cool, man.

We drove for another thirty minutes until we were outside the city limits where the sand turned into lush green grass.

The green reminded me of Washington and its ever damp forests. I looked away from the window and down into my lap. After that night two weeks ago, I didn't speak to my parents once. While my father wasn't there for the initial conversation about my change in zip code, I knew that he was just as guilty as my mother. They would try to talk to me, tell me that it was for my own good, but I would just flip them the bird and storm off to my room.

I packed only what I liked. I left behind all of the clothing that my parents had bought me, seeing as all of it was polo sweaters and frilly skirts and dresses. Everything that I had deemed appropriate for me, I brought. I didn't want to leave any of it behind, just in case my parents decided to purge my room of all things _Bella_. They dropped me off at the airport early this morning, once again telling me this was for my own good. I ignored them and checked my bags and walked through security. I didn't look back once.

I was pulled back to the present when the cabbie pulled up in front of a huge wrought iron gate, and the gate swung open when the cabby told the gatekeeper who we were. As we drove into the campus, there was a stone monument with the name plaque that read "St. Alexander's Academy for Young Ladies and Gentlemen". A stone tiger, the school's mascot, with its mouth open mid-roar was crouched on top.

The campus was huge. Most of the buildings had that old English boarding school look to them - red brick buildings with ivy covered walls and wrought iron detailing. We stopped in front of the main building, a large brick building in the middle of campus.

I looked around and saw students milling around in the large open courtyards. The girls were all wearing designer jeans and heels and tiny tops that were borderline scandalous. The guys were all sporting khaki shorts or jeans, polo shirts and sports jerseys. They all looked very… California. They all turned their heads when I finally stepped out of the cab. The girls were scanning my outfit (a band tee, ripped jeans, and Vans) and some of their reactions were comical. Some flinched away like it was actually hurting their eyes to look at me. Some just stared in disgust. Others looked like they had gone into shock. It's like they've never seen a girl wear black before. The guys were a completely different story. They looked me up and down, most of their eyes stopping on my chest where the band's logo was stretched tight. It's not like the shirt was obscenely tight, but it wasn't a sack either.

I rolled my eyes at them and unloaded my two bags (I didn't like to carry around a lot of shit like most of the girls at this school probably did) from the trunk and paid the cabbie and he drove off.

I threw my duffle over one shoulder and grabbed the handle on my rolling bag and walked into the building. There was a middle aged lady sitting at the front desk, typing away.

I cleared my throat as politely as I could. The lady lifted her head to see who had interrupted her, gave me a once over, and then returned to typing. I glared at her. _Bitch, you really don't want to mess with me right now._

"Excuse me," I ground out. "I'm in need of some assistance here. New kid and all."

The lady finally looked up again with an exasperated sigh. _Like she was actually doing anything anyway._ "Yes?"

"I'm Isabella Swan. I'm new here," I said again, trying to keep my tone as civil as possible. I really didn't have the energy to go apeshit on someone right now, but I would if I had to.

The woman gave me a terse nod and got up to pick up a folder from behind her. She came back and handed it to me. "This is your schedule, a map of the school, and all the rules and regulations. Read them, learn them, _follow _them." She eyed me again. She probably thought that I was a troublemaker. _Oh, honey, you have no idea._

"The headmistress would like to see you now," she said, pointing down the hallway. Before I could say anything else, she was back on her computer, typing again. I breathed out a frustrated sigh and headed down the hallway towards the headmistress's office. I found the office and knocked.

"Come in," a muffled voice called from behind the door. I left my bags outside the door and walked in.

The woman standing behind the desk was the epitome of strict, English headmistress. Her dark brown hair was pulled back in a severe bun and a pair of wire-rimmed glasses sat on her straight nose. Her mouth was set in a firm line, with the corners only slightly turned up on the edges. _Maybe that was her welcoming face._ Her navy pantsuit was neatly pressed and she stood ramrod straight. She looked a little bit like she was possessed too, which was just straight up creepy.

_Great, I've just walked into Hades' den_, I thought as I made my way into the room.

"Hello, Isabella, I'm Headmistress Marsh," she said, her voice calm. "Please, have a seat." She gestured to one of the high-backed chairs in front of her desk.

"It's Bella," I said, completely ignoring the greeting before slumping into one of the chairs. The slight smile, if you could even consider what she was sporting a smile, on her face twitched. She walked slowly from around her desk and stood in front of me.

She ignored my rude behavior and continued on. "It's lovely to have you here at St. Alexander's." I'm sure it is. "I'm sure you'll fit in quite well here and make plenty of friends." Not likely. I gave her a little nod and a smile to appease her.

She twitched her lip at me so I'm going to assume that she tried to smile back. "Here at St. Alexander's we pride ourselves on the grace and good decorum of our students. How they behave and look are important to show the community that our students are here to better themselves." She walked behind me and placed her hands on my shoulders. "And I'm hoping that you, Isabella, will focus on bettering yourself as well." Then she pulled back on my shoulders, straightening me from my slumped posture, pulling my back straight. "Starting with your posture."

She let go, and I glared at her. If she thought that I was going to let some stuffy prep school change me, then she had another thing coming. They all did. "Have a good rest of the day, Isabella. Classes start at eight a.m. sharp. Don't be late." Then she sat down, turning to her computer, effectively dismissing me. My glare didn't leave my face as I got up and walked out the door. I bent over to pick up my bags when Marsh called out, "Oh, and Isabella?"

I looked back into the room, waiting. "Welcome to St. Alexander's." The corners of her mouth twitched. The smile looked more menacing than welcoming. I nodded and grabbed my bags and headed towards the door.

She might have meant for it to sound welcoming, but I couldn't shake the feeling that what she really meant to say was, "_Welcome to Hell._"

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><p><strong>Well, I hope you enjoyed this Bella. She's a bit of a badass, if I do say so myself. I really like her. She's everything that I would love to be. LOL. XD Anyway, we'll meet our favorite gang next chapter.<strong>

**I thinking about having an update at least once a week. I really hope you all enjoy this story because I'm really enjoying writing it.**

**Laterz,**

**Cat :)**


	2. Ch 1 Annoyance Comes In Many Forms

_**Let the Games Begin **_

**A/N: I want to thank everybody who favorited and reviewed this. It makes me feel good. Ha ha. Anyway, I'm giving you all another update seeing as I'll be leaving town for the next week tomorrow. Hope you enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: Same as last time. All belongs to SM.**

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><p><strong><em>Chapter 1<br>__Apparently Annoying Comes in the Form of Prep _**

_(BPOV)_

I rolled my bags through the campus, ignoring the stares that I knew were coming my way. I pulled out the piece of paper with my dorm assignment on it and followed the map to my new dorm. I walked through the doors and I was a bit surprised at what I saw. The interior of the building was the opposite of the exterior. It was new and modern with sleek white leather couches and a few flat screen TVs in the common area on the ground floor.

But on those couches were some more girls and a few guys that were giving me the same horrified looks as the other students in the courtyard. I gave them a sickly sweet smile and hit the elevator button. I hit the three button and walked down the hall, thankful that no one was in the hallway at the moment. I really wasn't in the mood to deal with any of the prissy little brats that surely attended this hellhole.

I found my door and dug the key out of the folder and opened the door. The room could have been worse. There were two beds, one of the them already had a light purple duvet covering it. There were two dressers and closets. The bathroom was pretty big, so that was nice I guess. My roommate (obviously) had an addiction to Diet Coke considering the fact that there was a stack of twelve packs running up the wall on her side of the room all the way up to the ceiling. _Okay_, that was going to be fun to deal with.

I sighed and walked in, throwing my stuff on the empty bed and started pulling out my sheets and duvet. My sheets were standard white sheets, nothing too fancy, and my duvet was black with white accents along the edge. It definitely stood out in the light colored room. Hope my roommate doesn't mind a bit of black because it's going to be here whether she likes it or not. _Tough luck, bitch. _

I threw my clothes into the dresser and closet, not really caring where any of it landed. I'd deal with it later. I hung up my band posters on my wall before shoving my duffle and suitcase under my bed. I flopped onto my bed and laid there, staring up at my posters. "At least I have you guys," I sighed.

I pulled the pillow out from under my head and threw it over my face and screamed into it. God, when did I get so pathetic? I'm talking to posters at some hellish boarding school in a town that I hate everything about. All of the girls were stuck up slutty bitches and the guys were all egotistical horndogs. My parents think I'm some sort of delinquent and that some stuffy school with ancient teachers with even more antiquated rules is going to "fix" me.

I threw my pillow back onto the bed and got up, grabbing my iPod and walked downstairs, still getting the same looks as before. I pulled my earbuds in and flipped them all the bird before walking out the door. I heard gasps coming from behind me and that made me smile a little, but it didn't last very long.

I blasted my loudest music and stomped off across campus, trying to find a place that wasn't full of people staring at me like I was a complete freak. I mean, I knew it was going to happen - new kid and all. But still, it really wasn't necessary. Look once, turn away. It's not that hard.

I finally found an empty bench with no one near enough to get a good look at me and laid my head on the back, staring up at the sky. I sat there for a few minutes before closing my eyes and focusing on the very angry lyrics coming out of my headphones.

A few minutes later, I felt someone tap my shoulder. I ignored them, hoping that they would just go away, but because I seem to have used up all of my good luck for the next ten years, they didn't leave. Whoever it was tapped my shoulder again and I let out an angry sigh and opened one eye and pulled out one earbud. "Can I help you?"

I finally looked at the person sitting next to me. It was a boy. He was blonde with blue eyes, completely generic. He was wearing - _wait for it_ - a light blue polo and jeans, like every other carbon copy here. He was giving me what he thought was a sexy smile, but in reality it just looked like he really needed to find a toilet.

"Hi, I'm Mike," he said, leaning towards me. "What's your name? Where're you from?"

"I'm Leave-Me-Alone from a little town called none-of-your-fucking-business," I said nonchalantly before putting my headphone back in my ear.

And then Mike pulled it back out. He did _not_ just touch my stuff. "So you're new here?" he tried again.

_Oh my God, this guy is denser than my great-Aunt Marge's fruitcake. _"Do not touch my stuff. Do not talk to me. Do not come near me. Or I will rip off your balls, chop them up and feed them to your grandmother. 'K, bye."

I got up and left him there in shock, now in an even worse mood than I was before. I wandered around the campus and finally found a tree near the edge of campus that no one was near. I flopped down and leaned against the trunk.

I sat there for the rest of the afternoon until the sun started to go down. I sighed and got up and headed back to the dorm. Thankfully, most of the students were back inside the dorms by now, so no one stared at me as I made my way back across campus.

I finally found my dorm again (what? I'm new, it's dark, and all of the stupid buildings look the same.) and walked in to find the same people sitting in the common area with a few additions (my God, don't these people have anything else to do that sit around with their thumbs up their asses and stare at me?). Although I did appreciate it when a few of them glared at me for my earlier farewell other than just gawking at me. I gave them a salute and a mocking smile and headed to the elevators, but I was stopped by golden retriever boy. He hopped in front of me with a bright smile on his face, as if my earlier threat hadn't even phased him. "Hi again," he said. "What's your name again? I don't think I caught it earlier."

"That's because I didn't tell you. And it'll be a cold day in hell before I do, fuckwad," I ground out. I really was not in the mood to deal with people like him right now. "Leave me alone." I tried to sidestep him, but he moved in front of me again.

_Dear God, please do not let me commit murder tonight_.

"Ah, come on. No need to be hostile," he said the same sickening smile on his face from earlier.

"_I_ am not hostile. _I _do not want to talk to you. _I _want to be left alone. _I_ do not even want to be at this fucking school, but I'm here anyway, surrounded by people who are too dense to understand the concept of personal space and have nothing better to do than _stare at the new girl_!" I glared around him at the people in question and they quickly looked away.

I glared up at the guy in front of me, whose name I couldn't even remember, telling him that he needed to get out of my way. But he just stood there. "So do you want a tour of the campus? I know all of the cool spots that are great for-"

I cut him off. "Are you too dense to understand the fact that I do not want to talk to you or go anywhere with you or be anywhere near you? Because you seem like you are. Let me spell it out for you. _Stay. The. Fuck. Away. From. Me._" And then I proceeded to punch him in the gut.

He doubled over and the kids in the common area groaned in sympathy or cheered. Some of the girls looked horrified. Two of the girls, a tall statuesque blonde and a small pixie looking girl, were laughing their asses off along with a huge muscular guy and tall blonde guy. They weren't here earlier today.

"I don't think she wants to talk to you, Newton," the muscular guy called from across the room. Newton glared up at him and scurried off without even a glance in my direction. _Thank God for small favors_.

The guy motioned for me to come over to the small group. I gave them a dubious look before shuffling over to them. Up close I could make out a lot more details about them. The huge guy was, in fact, _huge_. He had muscles everywhere, but his appearance was soften by his mop of curly dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. He was smiling a dimpled smile that I figured could get him out of just about anything. He was sitting next to the blonde girl that would have looked like she had just stepped out of a magazine if it wasn't for the black smudges all over her jeans and shirt. She was giving me a small smile which didn't make me feel completely unwelcome.

On the floor by her feet, was the small pixie looking girl. She couldn't have been more than five feet tall. Her black hair barely touched the tops of her shoulders and it stuck out in all directions. She had a bright smile on her face, but it wasn't creepy like Newton's was. Finally, the blonde guy sitting next to the pixie girl was definitely tall. His wavy hair was honey colored with natural blonde highlights, like he had been in the sun a lot, and hung in his blue eyes.

"Hey, I'm Emmett Cullen," the huge guy said. "And you are my new best friend. I'm glad that someone had the guts to finally tell him to fuck off." He laughed heartily.

"Bella Swan," I said, a small smile slipping onto my face against me own will. These people seemed like the kind of people you can't be angry around, no matter how pissed you were. "Good to know I have one friend."

They all laughed. "Well, maybe you can have more than one. Not all of us are stuck up bitches and douche bags," the blonde girl said with a smile. "I'm Rosalie Hale, by the way. Call me Rose though." I gave her a nod of acknowledgement.

"I'm Alice Cullen, Emmett's sister," the pixie girl chirped. "And this is Jasper Whitlock." She gestured to the blonde guy who gave me a friendly smile and a wave. "Are you in this dorm?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Room 315."

She gasped and smiled brightly again. "Oh, awesome! You're my new roommate!"

"Oh, you're Diet Coke girl," I said, connecting two and two together.

She gave a sheepish smile and a giggle. "Yeah, I hope that doesn't bother you too much. I'm slightly addicted to the stuff."

Emmett snorted. "Slightly? You start shaking if you don't have one every six hours."

She just looked up at me and shrugged. "Eh, what can you do?" She laughed.

I just shrugged with her. "It's no big deal. I'm the same way with Dr. Pepper."

Alice gasped and smiled. "A kindred spirit! This year is going to be awesome, I just know it!" I couldn't help but smile with her. Alice seemed like the kind of person that I could see myself being friends with, even if she was a bit hyperactive. They all did. They didn't gawk at me or look at me like I was beneath them and sneer at me. They just accepted me as I was, awful language and ball-busting personality and all.

"So, where does one find food around here? I haven't even eaten since this morning," I asked just as my stomach decided to make itself known and grumble loudly. They all laughed and got up.

"Come on, we'll show you where everything is," Alice said, taking my hand and pulling me along.

I looked back at the other people sitting in the lounge. They were still gawking at me and it pissed me off. "For the love of all things good and holy, _stop staring at me_! Girls, yes, I wear black and my hair is blue. Get over it! And boys, I have boobs and an ass. Most girls do. Stop looking at me and close your fucking mouths!" And with that I turned on my heel and walked out the door.

Emmett, Rose, Alice, and Jasper looked at me for a second before they burst out in laughter. "Sorry about that," I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. I really didn't want to scare off the only people at this school that could possibly keep me sane. "It's just been going on all day and it was really pissing me off."

"It's no big deal. It's kind of refreshing actually," Rose said, shaking her head at my apology. "All of the other girls are either huge suck ups or sluts that are always complaining about every little thing. It's nice to see someone stick for themselves for once."

That was surprising. "Wow, most of the time people tell me to 'watch my language' or 'young ladies don't act that way'."

They all snorted with laughter. "Not gonna happen here, Baby Bell," Emmett said. "We get the same speeches. I think you'll fit in just fine."

I smiled at the nickname. "I was thinking the same thing. You're my new best friend, Em."

He did a little dance, which only made us all laugh again. "Sweet!" he exclaimed. He extended his fist. "Knucks." I bumped his fist with a smirk and a nod. "Knucks."

"Coolest chick ever," he said. Rose gave him a look. "After you, Rosie, of course," he added quickly. She gave him a smile and kissed his cheek. I looked in between them and my eyes flickered over to Jasper and Alice. I looked down and saw that their hands were tangling together.

"You two." I motioned between Emmett and Rose. "And you two." I did the same with Alice and Jasper. "Are together?"

"Yeah," Alice chirped, smiling. "Jasper and I have been together ever since we met freshman year."

"She marched right up to me the first day of school and said that I was going to take her out on a date and I did. And the rest is history," Jasper said, speaking for the first time tonight. He had quite a southern twang in his voice, but it suited him.

"Emmett and I have been together since the seventh grade," Rose said, smiling at the big lug who was giving her his cheesiest smile.

Emmett laughed. "She kicked me in the shin after I complimented her hair. We've been together ever since."

I had to laugh a little. If these guys were here to keep me from going insane, then I think I'll be okay. "I beginning to think that this place won't be so bad after all."

"Pfft, of course it won't. We're here. And we are awesome. Therefore, this place is awesome," Alice said. I had to laugh as we walked through the doors of the cafeteria.

And then all eyes were on me again. I stopped laughing and glared at everyone who made eye contact with me. I wasn't going to tolerate the staring anymore.

We all moved through the food line and paid for our food before walking over to one of the empty tables. I sat down, ignoring the stares that I knew I couldn't stop now, no matter how long and hard I glared at them.

"So, who in this place do I need to avoid if I don't want to end up in jail for murder?" I asked before digging into the cafeteria food that wasn't that bad to be honest.

"Well, there's Mike Newton, but you've already been acquainted with him," Rose said. I scowled at the mention of the moron from earlier. "Don't let him or any of his friends near you. They're all horndogs that will hook up with anything with vagina."

I nodded. "Good to know."

"There's Tanya Denali. She's the supposed 'queen of the school'," Alice threw in. "She thinks she's so high and mighty, but in reality, she's just a bitch with a superiority complex. She thinks that she can boss anyone around and get whatever she wants. It's fun to mess with her." Alice and Rose exchanged only _slightly_ maniacal grins. "We have something set up for her tomorrow before classes start."

"Okay. Anyone else?" I asked. Just as I asked I looked up and saw him.

Well, _hello_ there. This guy was definitely swoon worthy. Tall, about 6'2", a body covered in wiry muscles that flexed under his clothes when he moved. Tousled coppery hair that fell lazily into his emerald green eyes. A strikingly handsome face that would make angels weep. He moved with the grace of a jungle cat. Mmmm, his smile was deliciously crooked.

He was leaning against one of the tables, his arms crossed over his chest as he laughed at something one of the guys he was talking to had just said.

And then his eyes flickered over to meet mine. The emerald orbs locked with mine and a smile graced his face. He looked just a second longer before turning back to his friend. I shook my head to clear it.

Emmett, Jasper, Alice, and Rose followed my gaze to find what I had been looking at. They all exchanged a look and a small smirk before turning back to me. It was weird, but I didn't really think anything about it. "So, anyone else?" I asked again.

"Just your typical bitches and douches, but I think you can handle them," Alice said, a slight smile still on her face.

I gave a nod in agreement and turned back to my food. We talked a little bit about everything. I found out that Emmett, Alice, and Rose were from Chicago and that Jasper was from Dallas, hence the accent. I told them I was from Seattle, but that was the extent of my back story.

"Hey, Bella," Alice said after we had finished eating. "There's a back to school party thing going on later tonight. It's actually pretty fun. Do you want to go with us?"

I thought about it. Going meant that I would have to actually be near some of the before mentioned bitches and douches, but I was having a good time with people my own age for once in my life and, if I was being honest with myself, then I actually did want to have some friends while I was here unlike at all of my other schools where I just glared at everyone and avoided talking to anyone and they did the same with me.

"Sure. Sounds… interesting." I mean, what could possibly happen?

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><p><strong>So we got to meet the gang and we got a first glimpse of our favorite boy. Exciting, yes? Anyway, more later next week. Probably Saturday. I'll be out of town with no internet. Sigh. Oh, well.<strong>

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Review please. They make me happy. :)**

**Until later then.**

**Cat**


	3. Ch 2 Chapstick Is Definitely A Must

_**Let the Games Begin**_

**A/N: Alright, you guys, I'm back and we're back on our regular updating schedule (Wednesdays). Thank you to all of you who reviewed. I really appreciate them all.**

**Well, I'm going to go ahead and get on with it. Here's chapter two and the official introduction of our favorite boy. ;)**

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><p><em>Chapter 2<br>__I Probably Should Have Invested in Some Chapstick_

_(BPOV) _

"Where are we going exactly?" I asked as we left the cafeteria after we had finished eating. We were heading to the back to school thing.

"You'll see," Alice sang as she skipped head of the group, pulling Jasper along with her. There were other students walking along with us, chattering about this and that and a bunch of other shit.

Everyone started filing into a large building near the edge of campus. I slid through the door along with the rest of the group. The room that we were all in was huge and brightly lit. There was music pulsing throughout the room and a few people were already dancing.

Alice let go of Jasper's hand and grabbed both Rose and me and pulled us onto the dance floor. "Come on. I wanna dance," she squealed.

I laughed at her enthusiasm, but danced with her and Rose anyway. It had been forever since I have just danced around for no reason whatsoever.

For the first time in two weeks, I smiled a genuine smile. I laughed and swung my hair around, jumping and dancing around like a fool. I knew people were staring at me, but I didn't care. It was bound to happen anyway.

The three of us danced for a few more songs before I excused myself to take a breather. I wandered off towards the snack table and grabbed a bottle of water (Boarding School Tip 1: Avoid punch, or any other open beverage, at all costs. It _will_ be spiked.). I didn't feel like waking up with a hangover in the morning.

I took a sip of my water as I leaned back against the table and scanned the room. People were dancing. Some were standing along the edges of the crowd in small groups, talking. And there was the occasional couple that had probably consumed too much of the punch that were all over each other, making out in the corners of the room. Typical high school party. I guess they never changed, no matter how much your parents spend on your education.

I felt the stares of the students that hadn't had the pleasure of seeing me earlier today. I swear to God, this place was like a fish tank. People always looking at you without your permission or the ability to stop them (no matter how many times your threatened their genitals).

I sighed and took another sip of water. A few songs later, someone turned down the music and picked up a mike and started speaking in a high-pitched voice. "Welcome back, people. You all know who I am, so let's get started." _Wow, conceited bitch much._ I looked up at the small stage that was set up on the far side of the room. Holding the mike was the definition of beauty queen. She was tall with strawberry blonde hair that hung in perfect waves down her back. Her skin was smooth and blemish free (probably from the pounds of make-up that was caked on her face).

A girl ran up to the stage and whispered something into the other girl's ear and then quickly ran off the stage again. The strawberry blonde flashed another smile. "It turns out that not everyone here knows who I am. We have a newbie in our midst tonight, ladies and gents." Her eyes scanned the room until they landed on me. She walked off the stage and, _I kid you not_, four other girls fell into formation behind her like they were in the military or something. It was disturbing. Everyone's eyes locked onto me as she moved towards me.

The sea of people separating us quickly parted as she walked up to me, their eyes never leaving me. She gave me a bright smile that was anything but welcoming as she looked me up and down. It was the smile of someone who was going to mark their territory. I was just waiting for her to start peeing on something. "I'm Tanya Denali, captain of the cheering squad and homecoming and prom queen for two years running," she said, looking down her nose at me.

Ah, this was Tanya. Egotistical bitch extraordinaire. She looked the part. And from the look on her face she definitely thought that she was the shit and that she had everyone in this place wrapped around her little finger. Now she thought that I would fall in line, just like the rest of the carbon copies in this hellhole.

Everyone was waiting for my reaction. I glanced over at Alice, Rose, Emmett, and Jasper. They all had smirks on their faces, like they knew that I was going to say something that will throw this entire room for a loop. They were probably right.

I gave Tanya a tight lipped smile. "_Really?_ Wow! Should I bow? Curtsy? Maybe summon the court jester? Oh wait, you've got about four behind you. Never mind." I gestured behind Tanya at her cronies and they gave me scathing glares that would have bothered anyone but me. I looked back up at Tanya and I saw anger flash in her eyes.

She scowled at me and leaned in closer, lowering her voice. "Listen up, freak. This is _my _school, and you will do what you are told. I call the shots around here. One word from me saying that you are a total loser, and everyone will believe me. Don't screw with me."

The small grimace that I was passing off as a smile fell off my face completely and the bitch face came back full force. I clenched my hands into fists, trying to keep myself from punching her right then and there. "You know what? Tell them whatever you want because I won't care if you call be a bitch or a slut or a loser. Because I don't give a shit about you or this school. Which means that I have no problem with beating your ass into the ground. So I advise that you back up and stay the fuck away from me."

She _did_ back up (maybe she wasn't a total idiot) and I nearly smirked when I saw something that resembled fear flash through her eyes. But that quickly disappeared and she glared at me and stormed off, her cronies at her heels.

After Tanya was out of sight, I looked at the crowd that was still staring at me in shock. "_What?_" They all quickly looked away and started looking like they were doing something else entirely.

"Okay, we're going to play a little game now," another voice said other the mike. I looked up and saw Alice standing on the stage. She gave me a wink. I had to give it to her. She had awesome timing. I really felt like I was about to open a can of whoop-ass on the next person that looked at me wrong.

Everyone took their attention off me for the next moment and paid attention to Alice. "We're going to play Truth or Dare/Spin the Bottle. You've _all_ played this before, so let's get started."

She bounced off the stage and walked over to me. "Are you okay?" she asked me. I gave her a tight smile and nodded. She seemed hesitant at first, but accepted my answer for now. I really needed a distraction right now.

"So how do you play this?" I asked her.

"It's just like Truth or Dare. Only if you pick truth, you also have to spin the bottle. If you refuse a dare, you have to spin the bottle as well," she explained. I nodded as she led me over to the circle that was forming. Most everyone was going to playing, but a few stayed back, just watching.

I looked around the circle as I settled in between Alice and Rose. I recognized a few faces from the common room in the dorm and a few from the cafeteria, but I didn't know anyone's name aside from Emmett, Alice, Rose, and Jasper. And Tanya, but she's someone that I wish I never had to meet.

Sitting directly across from me though was the boy with the green eyes from the cafeteria. He was sitting next to the guy that he was talking to earlier. Pretty Boy, as I will now refer to the green-eyed boy as, was looking right at me, that same delicious smile on his face. He turned his head suddenly away, talking to his friend.

"Well, since I started the game, I guess I'll go first," Alice said after everyone had settled in. She called on a girl on the other side of the circle who chose truth. She answered Alice's question and then spun the bottle that had appeared in the middle of the circle without me noticing. She ended up kissing a guy from across the circle. She then called on another person. It went on like this for another few turns before someone called on Emmett. He chose dare, of course. He ended up having to chug a two-liter soda, but apparently he had done that before because he did it in under a minute and looked totally fine.

Emmett got a devious smile on his face before turning towards Pretty Boy. "Hey, Eddie, truth or dare?"

Pretty Boy, or Eddie I should say, scowled at Emmett. "It's _Edward_. How many times am I going to have to tell you that?" His voice was velvety smooth and rich, like melted chocolate. It sent shivers down my spine.

Emmett laughed. "At least a million more, Eddie Boy. Now, _truth_ or _dare_?"

Edward scowled at Emmett again, but answered the question. "Dare."

The devious smirk appeared on Emmett's face again. "I dare you to give us a little show."

Edward's eyebrow cocked in question. "What kind of show?" he asked cautiously.

Emmett looked like he was about to fall over from the lack of oxygen he was trying to contain his laughter so badly. "Strip, boy! Show us what your mama gave ya!" Emmett howled. Alice, Rose, and Jasper burst into hysterics when they saw the look on Edward's face. I was in just about the same amount of shock as Edward was. They were going to make him strip in front of a circle that was made up of mostly girls that, now that I think about it, will most likely eat him alive. I mean, it was hard not to notice the fact that at even the mention of his name, most of the girls sat up straighter and stuck out their boobs, hoping he would notice them. He didn't.

Edward glared at Emmett, who only laughed harder when he did. "Come on, Eddie. Get moving, or you'll have to spin the bottle," Emmett goaded. Edward's eyes widened a little at the mention of the bottle and he glared at Emmett again, but stood up. "Hey, Jazz, get him some tunes. He's gotta make this good."

"My pleasure," Jasper said before hopping up and running over to the stereo to turn on some music. The heavy bass of some sort of hip-hop music started pounding through the speakers.

"Chop, chop, Eddie," Emmett demanded, grinning. "The ladies are waiting." The girls in the circle cheered and catcalled. All of the boys just laughed.

Edward stood up and slowly started to slide his jacket off of his body. "You know, Em, I find it highly disturbing that you would even suggest that I even do this," Edward said, sounding concerned as he dropped his jacket onto the floor. "I mean, I know that you like my body, but I think your obsession has become unhealthy." His tone was teasing now, like he wasn't even fazed by the fact that he was stripping in front of most of the junior and senior class.

Emmett laughed loudly. "Your body rocks my world, and I can't stand to live without it. I promise I'll get help. Just please, Eddie, just one more time. Let me see it one more time," Emmett pleaded teasingly before going into hysterics along with the rest of our group. Apparently that was a running joke between the guys because most of them were rolling around on the ground.

The girls, on the other hand, were watching Edward with rapt attention as he slowly unbuttoning his black button down. He slowly slid that off and I could have sworn one of the girls passed out when she saw his shoulders. _His powerful, broad shoulders._ He was wearing a white wife beater underneath the button down. The undershirt was tight across his chest and stomach.

"Well, since you said please," Edward said, rolling his eyes. He slowly, and I mean _slowly_ as in glacier slow, lifted the wife beater over his head. But one thing was different about this time. His eyes weren't looking in Emmett's direction. He was looking directly at me, a devilish smirk on his face. When he finally pulled his undershirt off and I pulled my eyes away from his, I looked down at his torso and my jaw fucking dropped. This boy was _ripped_. I'm talking defined pecs and a six-pack of abs that most men would die to have.

_I want to lick him._

I heard more laughter coming from Alice and Rose. I looked up at them and they were looking at me strangely. "Shit! Did I say that out loud?" I cringed.

Alice nodded, her small body shaking with laughter still. "Oh yeah."

I looked down and rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment. Only a few things embarrass me. Admitting that I'm attracted to a guy is one of them.

"But judging by the way he's looking at you, he might just let you," Rose said, completely serious. I looked up in confusion and met Edward's gaze. His green eyes bore into my brown ones. Something sparked in his eyes for a second before disappearing.

His eyes never left mine as he went for the button and fly of his dark wash jeans. He slowly unbuttoned the button and pulled down the zipper. Then he dropped his pants to reveal black silk boxers.

I think just nearly had a heart attack. That boy was too gorgeous for his own good and he knew it. He was still looking at me, the same devilish look on his face.

He kept his eyes locked with mine for just a second longer before turning back to Emmett. "Is this sufficient?" he asked, waving his hands down his body.

Emmett snickered and nodded before clapping loudly. "Bravo, Eddie, bravo! You really should consider this as a career option. You're very good at it."

Edward rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind." He bent down to pick up his clothes and went back over to his spot next to his friend who was still laughing at him. Edward scowled at him and punched him in the shoulder.

He sat back down, his legs stretched out in front of him as he leaned back on his hands. His eyes met mine again and he sent me a wink and waggled his eyebrows at me. I cocked an eyebrow at him, trying to regain some composure, and he only smirked.

He called on someone else and the game continued. I just really hoped no one called on me. It wouldn't be pleasant if they did.

_(EPOV) _

I sighed and leaned back on my hands, avoiding the looks that I knew I was getting from the female population of the room. _Damn Emmett. _I mean, I _was_ sitting there mostly naked, but still, the stares only make it more awkward.

One set of eyes was making sure that they didn't meet mine _at all_. The new girl was sitting with Alice and Rose, talking to them and looking down at the ground. She was probably hoping that I hadn't seen her face when I was disrobing in front of her.

But I did. And she looked impressed. And that made me feel _pretty_ good. I couldn't keep the smirk off my face.

I mean, the first thought that ran through my mind when I saw her in the cafeteria was that she was beautiful, if not a little eccentric. She was small, but her body had curves in all the right places. Her skin looked naturally smooth and creamy, not caked with pounds of make-up. Her chocolate brown eyes sparkled with mischief. And her dark brunette hair had royal blue streaks running through it. She definitely had her own style what with her ripped jeans and band tees, something that was unheard of at this fine establishment.

All throughout dinner, I couldn't keep myself from glancing over at her. She was talking with Emmett, Jasper, Alice, and Rose and she seemed like a pretty laid back person.

At least, I thought she was until I witnessed her little bitchfest with Tanya. She definitely didn't take shit from anyone, especially bitches like Tanya.

Everyone knew that Tanya and I didn't get along. Everyone except Tanya. _She _thought that we were the closest thing to the perfect couple.

We went out once during freshman year. She was just as bitchy then as she was now. That was definitely the end of that relationship for me.

Not for her though. She followed me around, claiming that I was her boyfriend. When I told everyone that I was not, in fact, her boyfriend, she got wind of it and shit a brick. I told her that we were not dating, but apparently she refused to believe that. For the first couple of weeks after I told her, she was fine. Well, I _thought_ that she had accepted it. But apparently not. I was informed later that Tanya was harassing every girl that I talked to behind my back. She continued to do that for the longest time until she discovered that there were other guys, or morons is a better term, that would _willingly_ follow her around like puppies.

That was probably the best thing that could have happened, for me anyway. While she was no longer harassing me (as much lately), she still retained the bitch-like quality that she was now known for. No one wanted to be subjected to her very volatile temper, so everyone bowed down to her, sucking up just to stay in her good graces. And now she thinks that she's "queen bee" and we all have to deal with it now.

Everyone except our newest addition to the student population, that is. I had never seen anyone talk to Tanya that way before. It was hot, to say the least.

The new girl was definitely going to be throwing this school for a loop, whether they were ready for it or not.

"What're you so happy about?" Seth, one of my best friends, asked.

"Nothing," I said quickly, not able to take my eyes off of the new girl. Seth followed my gaze and I saw him smirk and cock an eyebrow at me.

"So you got a thing for the new girl," he said. It wasn't a question.

I finally pulled my gaze from her and turned my attention to Seth. "What? _No_," I said quickly. "She's just…" I glanced back over at her. "interesting, is all."

Seth scoffed. "Interesting, my ass. You're lusting after the new girl. I can't say that I blame you though. She is nice to look at." He was right. She _was _nice to look at and apparently almost every guy in the circle thought so too. I could feel a growl building up in my chest when I saw the other guys checking her out.

"_Whoa_, down boy," Seth drawled with a surprised chuckle. "Getting territorial, are we now? Dude, you don't even know her name."

I glared at him. "I am not getting territorial. No one should be looked at like they're a piece of meat though." But, damn him if he wasn't right. I _didn't _know her name, but that could, and would, be easily rectified.

"Dare," a sweet voice said clearly, effectively shutting up everyone in the circle. I looked up and saw that Tanya had just challenged the new girl.

Tanya put her signature bitch face on and gave the new girl a devious smile. "I dare you to kiss someone," Tanya said.

The new girl got a slightly confused look on her face, like she was expecting something a bit more challenging and/or humiliating. "Okay. Who?"

"Him." And then she pointed at me. _Oh, well, shit. _The new girl looked to where Tanya was pointing and her eyes widened fractionally.

"You want me to kiss Stripper Boy?" she asked Tanya, her eyebrow cocked. I accidentally let a snort slip out at her name for me. Tanya nodded, her arms crossed over her chest. The new girl scoffed, but didn't look completely disgusted, so I took it as a good sign. "Any specifications?"

Tanya's smirk grew a little wider. "Think porno." _Well, double shit._

The new girl rolled her eyes, but got up from her seat anyway. The look on her face was resolute. She came over to me and jumped right into it, no hesitation whatsoever. She dropped down, her legs straddling my lap. _Sweet Jesus, mother of God. _My eyes widened and she gave me a smile that was probably a lot more sexy than she intended for it to be as she pulled her dark brunette locks out of the ponytail that it was in and shook it loose around her shoulders. She ran her hand up my arm and over my neck until it moved through my hair. I had to use all of my self control to keep my eyes from rolling into the back of my head when she did that. That was the one thing that got to me. I loved it when they ran their fingers through my hair. It was my kryptonite.

Then she whipped her shirt off. Right in front of most of the student population. She was taking this dare to an entirely new level. My breath got caught in my throat and I gaped at her. Her dark blue bra stood out against her creamy skin. She was beautiful. None of the girls - I mean _none_ - have ever stripped for me before. You would think that at least a few of them might have, but I have yet to see any of them attempt it. This girl was taking my breath away and I had only just met her.

I was still in shock when she planted one on me without a second's hesitation. Her lips crashed into mine and I lost my balance, causing me to fall onto my back with her on top of me. But that didn't stop her. She kept moving her lips against mine until I finally gained enough control over myself to kiss her back. My eyes closed and my hands slid across the soft skin of her back, one of them moving up until it tangled into the soft strands of her hair. She tasted amazing, sweet and fresh, like peppermint. I wanted more of her. My tongue slipped out from between my lips and traced her bottom lip. She hesitantly opened her mouth and my tongue slid inside her mouth and her tongue slid across mine. I tilted my head to deepen the kiss, my tongue delving deeper into her mouth. She responded instantly, her hands running through my hair and pulling gently at the strands. My arms tightened around her.

She slowly pulled away, but only moved back a few inches from my face. Her dark hair fell around us, creating a curtain in between us and the rest of the room. We were both breathing hard. "Sorry about that," she panted, a slightly embarrassed smile on her face.

I reached up to push a strand of blue hair away from her face. "Don't be," I whispered back. She cheeks tinted pink and she looked away from my eyes. "I'm Edward Masen, by the way."

She let out a low chuckle. "Bella Swan."

_Bella. _Beautiful. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Bella," I said, smiling up at her.

She smiled. "It definitely was." She gave me one last smirk and a chuckle before sliding off me, giving my chest a pat as she did. I sat up as she stood and looked over at Tanya. "Was that sufficient?" Bella asked while she picked up her shirt and slipped it back on.

I looked around the circle to see shocked faces on everyone. I felt a cocky smirk slide onto my face as I leaned back on my hands again. Yeah, that's right. _I_ was just kissed by one of the most beautiful girls in this school. Who cares if it was only for a dare. She didn't seem to mind too much.

But because of this, most of the guys that were interested in her before won't have the balls to even try to talk to her now. At this school, once a girl like Bella has been kissed, she's been marked. I don't understand it, but I might just use this to my advantage now. As pussy-whipped as this sounded, she left me breathless. That one moment, not more than thirty seconds ago, was the only time that has ever happened to me and I wasn't about to let the girl that made me feel that way get away.

I wanted her, and I'll be damned if I don't get her.

I looked over at Tanya and nearly fell over laughing. Her face was bright red and she was glaring at Bella so hard that I glanced over at Bella to make sure that she wasn't on fire or something. But Bella wasn't fazed at all. She had a cocky smirk on her face that could have rivaled my own. "Well?" Tanya stomped her foot and let out a shriek of anger before stomping off with her groupies following behind her. "I'm going to take that as a yes." She turned to me and gave me a smile. "Thanks for the help."

The smirk was full blown now. "Anytime."

She rolled her eyes good naturedly before walking back to her spot next to Alice and Rose, who were staring at her in awe. She gave them a shrug and then she called on someone else to go.

"Dude," Seth said, in total awe after a moment. "That was wicked."

I looked over at Bella again and her eyes met mine. She smirked and winked at me. A smirk slid onto my face again. "You have no idea."

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><p><strong>AN: Ooooohhh, steamy. Hahaha. Anyway, I hope you liked that.**

**Review and I might send our favorite Stripper Boy to your front door. ;)**

**Laterz, peeps.**

**Cat**


	4. Ch 3 Never Seen One of Those Before

_**Let the Games Begin**_

**A/N: Alright, guys. We're back. Thank you all who reviewed. I really appreciate the reviews.**

**And now, back to New Girl and Stripper Boy.**

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><p><em>Chapter 3<br>__I've Never Seen One of Those Before_

_(BPOV) _

The party started to wind down after my dare. The girls didn't feel like playing anymore now that Edward had already been kissed (apparently there was a rule that said that a person could only be kissed once, even if it was for a dare).

The group and I were heading towards the doors when I took one last glance around the room. A pair of emerald green eyes caught mine. Edward was standing on the other side of the room with his friend. He smirked at me again and gave me a small salute. I rolled my eyes, but sent him a wink before walking out the doors.

"So what's up with you and Eddie?" Emmett asked, an insinuating smirk on his face, as we wandered towards the dorms.

"What?" I asked, playing dumb. I knew what he was asking about, I just didn't really want to discuss it.

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "You know what. That little smooch you two had. Well, now that I think about it, it wasn't very little. _Baby Bell_, you little vixen, you." He was laughing as he pondered Edward's and my kiss together.

I rolled my eyes at him. "It was nothing. Just a dare. I've done much worse, _trust me_." I may have said that it was nothing, but my body turned traitor on me and started turning bright red.

Rose snorted loudly. "Nothing, my ass! I believe you said that, and I quote, 'I want to lick him,' end quote."

Emmett and Jasper apparently had not heard me say that while we were inside and their eyes widened before they both burst out laughing. I glared at Rose and then punched Emmett and Jasper in the arm to shut them up. "Hardy fucking har, guys," I grumbled.

They all snickered, but dropped the subject thankfully. Talking about guys with anyone was never something I was comfortable with. I mean, it's not like I ever had anyone to talk to back in Seattle, so opening up now was not going to be easy for me.

But Rose was right. That kiss was not nothing. It was definitely _something_. The way Edward's lips felt against mine was divine. They were soft and smooth and fit perfectly with mine. I mean, I had pretty much jumped him, but even then he didn't react like a typical hormone-crazed boy would. He kept his hands in appropriate places (not that I would have minded if his hands did happen to wander a bit) even after I stripped in front of him. He definitely looked shocked when I did _that_.

He was probably the only guy that had ever been that gentle with me. Yeah, I've been kissed before, but those kisses were either wet and sloppy or rough and tense. Nothing like the somewhat soft kiss that Edward and I shared. Edward was a gentleman, a very rare breed nowadays. He was sweet and gentle.

But he was also sexy as hell. I had no doubt in my mind that he had any trouble with the ladies. But after we had kissed, he smiled a blindingly bright smile at me and his emerald green eyes were glittering. His body was downright _sinful_. Toned arms and legs. Ripped abs and pecs. I mean, I nearly passed out at the mere sight of him. I had never seen anyone so amazingly gorgeous in my life. Touching him was an entirely different story. His body was as rock hard as it looked, but his skin was soft and smooth, even though he looked like an athletic sort of guy. His voice was like velvet, soft and smooth as it floated through the air as he spoke.

Everything about him was perfect. He seemed like the most amazing guy in the world.

But nothing good ever happened to me, so I knew that something bad was bound to happen sooner or later. I just hoped it was sooner, so that I wouldn't have to worry about getting too involved.

As we got near the dorms, Emmett and Jasper kissed Rose and Alice goodnight before us girls headed upstairs. Rose followed Alice and I into our room and they both perched on Alice's bed. They were looking at me expectedly. I raised an eyebrow at them. "What?" I snapped.

"The boys aren't here, now spill," Rose commanded.

"Spill what?" I asked, confused. "There's nothing to spill."

Rose snorted. "Yeah right. You and Edward definitely had a connection. How could you not feel it? Everyone else in the room sure could." Alice nodded in agreement.

"What are you talking about? There was no connection between Edward and me," I said, blatantly lying through my teeth. I _knew_ that there was something between Edward and I, but I wasn't really ready to think about something like that right now. To be honest, I've never felt anything like what Edward and I had before and it's scaring the shit out of me.

"Oh," Alice chortled. "She's getting defensive now."

"Am not!" I barked, sounding very defensive indeed. _Well shit._

They both laughed. "Fine, if you won't admit that there is something obviously going on between you two, then at least tell us if you think he's cute or not. Is he a good kisser?" Alice asked.

I sighed in exasperation. Even though I've only known them for a few hours, I had a feeling that they weren't the kind of people to drop a subject just like that. "Fine. Yes, I think he's cute," I answered, purposefully ignoring the other question.

"Just cute? And you didn't answer the other question." They were both cocking eyebrows at me.

I shot them an irritated look. "What do you want me to say? That I think that he's the most fucking gorgeous guy I've ever seen! That he's the most fantastic kisser ever! Do you want me to tell you that he made my body feel like it was on fire! Is that what you want!"

Both of their faces erupted in blindingly grins and they squealed excitedly. "I knew it!" Alice squealed. "I knew you liked him!"

"I do not!" I interrupted quickly. "I was just admiring beauty in its natural state. And thinking someone's cute and a good kisser, doesn't mean that I like them. I don't even know the guy."

They both let out unladylike snorts and rolled their eyes at me. "Whatever, Bella. You couldn't take your eyes off him the entire time we were at the party. And most people don't stick their tongues down 'Beauty's' throat."

My face flushed bright red. I really did _not _want to discuss this right now. I shot them both a glare. "I don't want to talk about this. Drop it." Neither of them have been on the receiving end of my temper before, but they didn't seem fazed by it at all. They both just looked at me before they started snickering at my irritated expression. I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "Whatever. I'm tired. I'm going to bed."

They continued snickering at me as Rose left the room to head up to hers. I grabbed some shorts and a tank top to sleep in out of my suitcase that I had yet to unpack. I just stripped in front of Alice (it's not like she hasn't seen it once already tonight) and then climbed into bed.

"Goodnight, Bella. See you in the morning," Alice chirped before flipping off the light. I could have sworn that I heard a soft giggle coming from the other side of the room before I slipped into welcomed oblivion.

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><p>I groaned when I felt someone poking me repeatedly in the middle of my forehead. I slowly opened my eyes and jumped about two feet out of my bed and onto the floor, just barely missing Alice's face which happened to be about three inches from my face.<p>

I groaned from the floor. "What the hell, Alice?" I flopped my forehead onto the ground, muttering obscenities at the hyperactive midget pixie that had woken me up at some ungodly hour.

"It's time to get up, Bella," Alice sang. She pulled on my arm, trying to get me to move. I grunted at her and refused to get off the floor.

It was when she slapped my ass really freaking hard. "Ow!"

"Get up. We're meeting Rose and the boys for breakfast in thirty minutes," she said before skipping off to her closet. I groaned and pulled myself off the floor.

I shuffled to the bathroom to take a quick shower and brush my teeth. I went to my closet to pull out some clothes when I saw something laid out on my bed. "What's that?"

"Your uniform," Alice chirped as she finished applying her make-up.

_What!_ "Uniform? Where does it say that we have to wear uniforms?" I asked, incredulous. I hadn't ever had to wear a uniform in my life.

"In the student guidelines," she said. "The ones that you got when you got here yesterday."

"I wasn't exactly planning on reading those," I grumbled.

Alice laughed. "I didn't think so. But we have to wear them, so put it on. We're going to be late."

I sighed and bitched under my breath at the school's cliché way of making us conform. I glared at the offending pieces of clothing. _At least they were black. _There was the classic plaid pleated skirt. It was black with royal blue and white accents and stopped about four inches from my knee (at least I didn't look like a nun). There was a basic white three-quarter length blouse, a black fitted blazer with white piping along the edges, and a black and royal blue striped tie. There weren't any shoes or socks however, so I assumed that I could use some creativity there.

I grumbled as I pulled on the clothes and tied the tie around my neck. I felt it hanging loosely around my neck. I wasn't about to strangle myself. I left the blazer off considering it was almost ninety degrees outside and I didn't feel like drowning in my own perspiration. That's just nasty, man.

I grabbed some of my black and white checkered knee high socks and pulled them on and then slid on my beat-up converse too make this ungodly ensemble look somewhat like something I would wear on a regular basis. I threw my hair up into a ponytail, not really wanting to mess with it right now.

Alice looked me up and down when she came out of the bathroom and she just smiled and shook her head. "You're definitely going to turn some heads."

I smirked. "That's the point."

She let out a somewhat evil chuckled and we both grabbed our bags (Hers: a rather large purse. Mine: black messenger bag.) and headed out the door. We walked through campus towards the cafeteria and Alice pointed out some of the buildings that my classes would be in.

We made it to the cafeteria and Alice led me over to the same table that we had occupied last night. The boys and Rose had already gotten our breakfast. I grunted in response to their greetings considering I was still only half-conscious (and I was basically the mother of all bitches in the morning). I grabbed the largest cup of coffee off the tray and drank it black. I needed every last drop of caffeine that I could consume at the moment if I even wanted to attempt to make it through the first half of the day. Apparently the coffee was Emmett's because he tried to stop me from taking it, but the look I was giving him at the moment made him rethink his decision.

"Wow, someone's not a morning person," Rose said, chuckling. I shot her a look that only made her laugh more. "Definitely not a morning person."

I grumbled under my breath as I drank my coffee, ignoring all conversation around me until my brain decided to join me for the day.

I was pulled from my stupor a few minutes later when the empty chair across from me screeched out from under the table and someone joined us. My eyes shot up and I saw Edward Masen sitting across from me. His green eyes met mine and a bright (and oh-so-sexy) smile slid onto his face.

He was even more handsome in the daylight. The beautiful smile on his lips and his glittering green eyes made him look like an angel, but the underlying spark of wicked playfulness in his eyes and the casual disarray of his hair made him look anything but pure. The muscles of his forearms were exposed as he had the sleeves of his crisp white button-up rolled up to his elbows. His tie (the same one as mine) hung loosely around his neck. His black blazer was slung over the back of the chair. He linked his hands behind his head and propped his feet up on the table. He was wearing the standard khaki pants that the boys were supposed to wear. But instead of the some stuffy rich boy sort of shoe that most of the guys here were wearing, Edward was sporting some ratty black high tops.

_Well, fuck me sideways and into next Tuesday. _The boy had good taste in shoes too. There had to be _something_ wrong with him. No one is this perfect.

His eyes connected with mine. "Miss Swan, you look ravishing this fine morning," Edward said, his silky voice flowing over me.

I gave an unladylike snort that made a few of the students around me look in our direction. "Laying it on a bit thick, aren't we, Romeo?" I cocked an eyebrow at him and smirked at him.

He chuckled softly. "I speak nothing but the truth."

I smirked over the lip of my cup. "Somehow I find that hard to believe." He only chuckled again and shrugged.

I thought I heard one of them mutter, "And _now_ she's awake." Someone cleared their throat from somewhere down the table. Edward and I turned to see the rest of the table looking at us intently. "Aren't you going to even acknowledge us?" Alice asked, her arms crossed in front of her chest. She didn't look irritated like her toned suggested, more amused than anything else.

Edward pulled his feet down from the table and placed his hand over his heart. "I apologize profusely, Ali," Edward said, sounding heartfelt and playful. "I was merely complimenting your new friend here. And you have to admit that I'm correct here."

Alice laughed. "Yes, you are. Bella is lovely." She winked at me and my face tinted pink. I tried to ignore the comment by taking a large sip of my coffee. "And you're forgiven, oh favorite cousin of mine."

You know in the movies when one of the characters hears some exciting or crazy news and they happen to be taking a drink of something at that exact moment and they either choke on the liquid or send in spraying out of their mouth usually onto some unsuspecting passerby? The latter is what we would call a spit-take and I've never seen one in real life. Until now.

I choked on my coffee and sent it, you guessed it, spraying out of my mouth and all over the table, just barely missing the front of Edward's shirt. He jumped back in surprise to avoid the spray of coffee coming towards him, but the chair he was sitting in tipped back and he fell flat on his back.

The entire cafeteria was silent. Everyone was staring at our table. Emmett and Alice were staring down at Edward, their _cousin_ (as in someone that they are _related_ to), along with Rose and Jasper.

Then they all roared with laughter. They fell back into their chairs, holding their stomachs to keep themselves upright.

I slapped my hand over my mouth in embarrassment and pushed away from the table quickly and ran over to the other side of the table. I knelt down next to Edward. "Shit! Are you okay?" I asked. I may not like this school and most of its attendees, but Edward had been nothing but nice to me (and he gave me a mind-blowing kiss to top it all off) and I repay him by almost soaking him in coffee and giving him a concussion.

He was rubbing the back of his head where he must have hit his head. I expected to see anger on his face, but when he looked at me all I saw was a smile. "Why is it that every time I'm around you, I end up on the ground?" he asked. I gave him a sheepish half-smile and shrugged. "You know, I've never actually seen anyone do that in real life."

"Sorry about that, by the way," I said. I stood up and offered him my hand and he smiled up at me and took my hand in his. It was soft, but there were a few calluses as well. They were perfection. Once again, there had to be _something _wrong with this guy. Apparently he had no flaws.

I tried to slip my hand out of his after he was on his feet. I needed to cease physical contact with him before I did something stupid, like kiss him again, but he wouldn't let go. He lifted my hand to his lips and pressed his lips to my knuckles. "Apology accepted," he said, smiling down at me.

He placed my hand back at my side and then turned to Emmett and Alice, giving them irritated looks. "Em. Ali. Call your mother. Mom's been on my ass because neither of you will answer your phones to talk to your _own_ mother." They both looked sheepish and glanced over at Rose and Jasper who looked just as sheepish. Well, we know why they weren't answering their phones _now_. "Rose. Jazz. Nice seeing you both."

He turned back to me, the smile back on his face. "I'll see you around, Bella." He gave me a wink before grabbing his blazer and his messenger bag and heading towards the doors. When he saw the entire cafeteria staring at him, he sent them a smile and a nod. "You guys might want to speed things along. It's almost eight now. Don't wanna be late," he called over his shoulder before walking out the doors.

After he left, the room filled up with chatter and the scraping of chairs against the tiled floor as students got up to head to class.

I shook myself out of my stupor and whirled on Alice and Emmett, my anger flaring up. I was embarrassed and angry, never a good combination wherever I'm concerned. "What the _fuck_ was that? Did that little tidbit of info just happen to slip your mind? Huh? Would it have been so hard to say 'hey, Bella, that dude that you made out with in front of the entire student body last night was our cousin'? But no, you didn't, and now he's walking around with a bump on his head the size of a fucking golf ball because you two failed to mention that little detail. _God!_"

I heard Rose and Jasper snickering at my rant and I turned to them. "You two obviously knew that they were related. You could have easily said something."

Then I remembered the conversation I had with Rose and Alice last night about Edward. _Shit._ _That just takes the whole goddamn cake. _I sent a glare at Alice and Rose. "I'm going to have a talk with the two of you later." I grabbed my bag then and headed towards the doors, ignoring the shocked looks that I was getting from the few stragglers that were still in the cafeteria. I heard them laughing about something.

"Bella," they called.

"What?" I snapped.

"Do you have any idea where you're going?" Alice asked. The smile on her face indicated that my little rant didn't faze her at all.

_Well, shit. _There goes my dramatic exit.

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><p><strong>AN: Well, there you have it. Another chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it!**

**Please review and I will love you forever! :)**

**Laterz, homebros.**

**Cat**


	5. Ch 4 I Never Said I Was Rational

_**Let the Games Begin **_

**A/N: Alright, peeps, I'm back with another update. Hope you enjoy this one. And thank you to everyone who reviewed. They all make me smile. :)**

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><p><em>Chapter 4<br>__I Never Said I Was Rational_

_(BPOV) _

Worst fucking day of my life.

Oh, you might think I'm being overly dramatic, but if you had the day that I just had, then you would be having the exact same pity party that I'm having.

Let's start at the beginning shall we.

Breakfast was alright, I suppose… if you cut out the fact that now that everyone knew that Edward Masen had taken a liking to the new girl who also happened to spit on him and then make his ass meet the floor… again.

After that debacle, we all had classes. When I finally pulled out my schedule for the semester, I groaned. This year was going to suck major monkey balls, that's for fucking sure.

And my lame excuse for a schedule is as follows:

_1. Pre-Cal - Mr. Verner_

_2. AP History 11 - Mr. Hans_

_3. AP Lit 11 - Mrs. Young_

_4. Spanish III - Ms. Goff_

_Lunch_

_5. AP Bio - Mr. Banner_

_6. _(and I shit you not)_ Etiquette - Mrs. Hugenstien_

_7. Music III - Mr. Sharp_

Alice led me to my first class. Rose, Em, and Jasper had to leave to make it to their classes on time. Most boring class on the face of the planet. Seeing as I already hated math with a burning passion, I knew then that I wasn't going to like Mr. Verner just for the principal of the thing. And then add on the fact that he has this heinously thick German accent that I couldn't understand _at all_ and then you'll understand why this class was going to be a no-go.

When that was over, I wandered around until I found the history building (seeing as I couldn't find Alice, Rose, Jasper, or Emmett to help me find it). My wandering made me late, which made Mr. Hans (seriously, this dude made the crypt keeper look like a gabbering baby) hate me from the get-go. After an hour of his beady-eyed glare and monotone voice, I sighed in relief when the bell rang for third period.

Alice found me after history. "I'm so, so, so, so sorry that none of us found you after first period."

"It's alright, Alice. It's no big deal. I've been late to a class before, it won't kill me," I said, trying to calm her down.

She took a deep breath and calmed herself before pulling a complete 180 on me. A bright smile spread across her face. "Come on, we've got to get to Lit." She dragged me off towards the English building.

We were the last ones to enter the room right before the bell rang. Alice gave me a smile before skipping off to sit next to Jasper who gave me a small smile and a wave. I forced a smile out for him and then looked around the room for an empty seat. There was only one seat left near the back of the class, so I started weaving in and out of desks and stepping over purses and backpacks trying to get to the back.

I was looking at the floor, trying to make sure that I wouldn't make a fool of myself by tripping and then giving the entire male population a peepshow when my skirt flew up like it undoubtedly would, so I didn't notice who was sitting around the desk. I looked up when the walkway became clear and nearly fell flat on my face in shock.

Sitting in the desk next to mine was none other than Edward Masen. He wasn't looking at me, in fact, he was reading. I found this kind of odd considering the fact that he was sitting with some of the other guys that I had seen him with earlier. I would have thought that he was more of a social butterfly than a bookworm, but I had to admit that the scholarly look worked for him. His eyes were trained on the book in concentration and the tip of his tongue was sticking out the slightest bit. It was beyond adorable. His hair was falling into his eyes and he had to constantly brushed it out of the way. He shifted a little and I saw a flash of the cover and nearly died right there.

He was reading Shakespeare. _Othello_ to be exact. That definitely was not on the reading list for this class, so that meant that he was reading it just for shits and giggles.

Not that I could ever see Edward giggling… but I digress.

He was sexy _and_ smart. Fuck me…

Bella, for the love of God, stop with all of the mooning and drooling and shit! He's just a guy! You don't need a guy right now! He's probably just like the rest of them anyway. A stuck up rich boy with an ego the size of an elephant's ass and a personality to match said pachyderm's rear.

Now that I thought about it, Edward seemed just a little too perfect for his own good. He was sexy (obviously) and had no problem with the ladies, but even then he only gave them passing glances and never looked below their necks, which made him a gentleman, something that I haven't seen in quite some time. But even with his gentlemanly ways, he exuded this confidence that nearly sent me over the edge (I loved a guy that was confident without being cocky). He was smart. I mean what normal teenage guy reads one of Shakespeare's tragedies for fun? Only smart kids do that kind of shit.

I slowly made it to my seat and sat down. Edward didn't look up. He just kept reading until one of the guys nudged his shoulder. "May I help you?" he asked, his eyes never leaving his book. _Ugh, and he even used proper grammar_.

"Did you hear Coach say that the game against Oceanic Prep has been moved up a week?" one of the guys asked.

Edward's head snapped up and looked at the guy in shock. "_What_? Are you shitting me? You can't be serious?" The other guy nodded. "That means we only have three weeks to get ready. Fuck!" He snapped his book closed and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. _What I wouldn't give to be that hand_… Stop it!

And of course he was athletic. I mean, with a body like that how could he not be. And most girls would be turned off when a guy cusses like a sailor. Well, let's just say that I have a thing for seamen.

It's official. Edward Masen is perfect.

And the exact opposite of the kind of guy that I usually went for. Normally, I would go for the guy that my parents would hate. Rocker dudes with tattoos and motorcycles. Emo guys that looked like they would jump you if you even looked at them wrong. Not smart, handsome athletes that could rock a polo or a sweater vest and not look like a _90210 _reject.

And the fact that I was so drawn to this guy was pissing me off. I didn't want a guy that my parents would approve of. I didn't want someone that would make them think that I was going to change who I am just so that I could impress some stuffy old morons that grew up with a silver spoon shoved up their asses.

Sure, he had a fuckhot body. And that smile of his made my lady parts melt. And his voice turned me into goo. And his eyes made me swoon with one glance. And his lips were a soft as pillows and he tasted like candy. And-

_Stop right there, Isabella Marie Swan! You aren't getting anywhere with this._

I took a deep breath, trying to regain my bearings before I pulled out my notebook for class. I had to admit that I was excited for this class. I had always loved Lit, and I was glad that the reading list for the class was at least a little bit challenging.

"Nice ass," someone said from behind me. I was bent over, looking in my bag for a pen. I ignored the comment and continued looking for my pen. But then I felt a hand on my ass and they gave it a squeeze. I froze. I felt my anger bubbling up inside me. I turned around slowly to find none other than Mike Newton, the idiot from yesterday. Apparently he had gotten stupider overnight since he had the audacity to touch me after the lecture I gave him.

He had the nerve to smirk at me. _Well, if he wanted to play it that way…_

I gave him a small, fake smile of my own before cocking my arm back. A fist connected with his face and he fell to the ground, yelping like a cat that just had its tail stepped on. There was blood running down his face and tears in his eyes.

_Wait, that wasn't my fist… _I looked up and saw Edward glaring down at Newton, and he looked pissed. "Didn't your mother teach you any manners, Newton? You can't go around grabbing girls' asses just because you're feeling horny." Mike whimpered and scrambled to his feet and scurried out the door, leaving behind a classroom of very shocked classmates behind. Apparently, Mike and Edward didn't get along.

My eyes were widened in utter shock. I had known Edward a total of maybe fourteen hours and he was already throwing punches for me. A part of me was swooning because honestly, what girl didn't want a guy around who was willing to deck a douche or twenty if they got a little handsy. Another more irrational part of me was angry that Edward had stepped in. I had been doing just fine here without his help.

Edward met my eyes. A small smile was on his face, but quickly disappeared when he saw my glaring expression. "Sorry about that," he said sheepishly.

Normally, when I was thinking straight and I wasn't completely intoxicated by his mere presence, I would have accepted his apology with little to no backtalk, but I wasn't thinking clearly, so I snapped at him. "I could have handled that on my own."

He looked slightly taken aback, like no one had ever talked to him like that before, before his face clouded over. His eyes darkened and a slight scowl crossed his face. "Excuse me?" he said, his arms crossing over his chest. _Fuck if he wasn't sexy as hell when he was angry…_ Gah! Stop it!

"I can take care of myself and I don't need guys with a superiority complex coming to my rescue every time someone touches me," I snapped at him.

His scowl grew. "A little gratitude would be nice," he growled. _Holy fuck on toast…_ Gah!

"Why should I be grateful for something I didn't want or need in the first place?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Because that's what normal people do. They say 'thank you' when someone stops an idiotic son of a bitch from grabbing their ass."

"I can take care of myself," I said again. I glared up at him and sent it right back.

"Fine!" Edward yelled.

"Fine!" I yelled back.

"_Fine!_" We both yelled at the same time. We were both breathing heavily then. I huffed and fell back into my seat, not wanting to look at him anymore. Looking at him only made me want to yell at him some more. I heard him sit back down as well.

_What is he doing to me?_ No one has ever made me feel this way before. I'm acting like some hormone-crazed bipolar lunatic that may or may not have forgotten to take her meds on a regular basis.

I finally looked up to find the entire class turned around in their seats, staring at the two of us like we had declared that we were going to start a nudist colony in our Lit class. Complete and utter shock was covering their faces. Some were staring at me. Others at _him_. I shot a glare in the direction of anyone who dared make eye contact with me and they all turned around quickly once they got some of the bitch brow.

Finally the teacher came into the room. _What could she have possibly been doing to miss our epic shouting match?_ She introduced herself as Mrs. Young. Her name was appropriate. She looked young and she seemed like she was actually excited to teach this class. Maybe this class won't be a total waste. Even though it also included dealing with Newton and all of his douchebaggery and Edward Masen, the newly found bane of my existence.

We muddled through the whole first day bullshit that every teacher had to go through as I continued to ignore the piercing glare that I felt on the side of my face that was coming from Edward. As soon as the bell rang, I jumped up and ran out of the classroom, not wanting to deal with any more of the stares that were coming my way.

I wandered across campus until I found the foreign language building. Thankfully, I wasn't late as I slid into my Spanish class. A few people were whispering and shooting glances my way, but I couldn't be sure why. I didn't know if they had heard about my small explosion with Edward or if it was still the whole new girl thing. I ignored them, as usual, and tried to pay attention to my Spanish teacher in the hopes that it would take my mind off of all the other crap that had happened earlier. But considering the fact that it was the first day of school, the teacher had little to say, so I was stuck staring at the clock for about twenty minutes until class let out for lunch.

When the bell finally rang, I left and found Alice waiting for me. She didn't mention what happened in Lit between me and her cousin, so I wasn't about to. She asked me about my day so far and I told her about the mind numbing quality of most of my classes. She laughed and agreed as we entered the cafeteria. We moved our way through the line and then over to the table that we had sat at during breakfast.

"So, Baby Bell," Emmett asked as I sat down. "What's this I hear about you going all apeshit on my baby cousin?"

I was shocked that he had heard about it so quickly, but I kept my shock of my face. "He annoyed me," I said calmly as I unscrewed the lid of my Dr. Pepper. I could feel my anger bubbling up again, but I tried to keep it down. "And I did not go 'apeshit' on him as you so eloquently put it. I just told him how I felt in a calm and concise manner."

Jasper snorted from next to Alice. "If having a shouting match in the middle of Lit is you when you're calm, then I don't want to ever see you pissed." I shot him a glare that only made him snicker.

I huffed. "As I told _him _during Lit, I can take care of myself and I don't need anyone swooping in to save me."

"I have no doubt about that," Rose muttered under her breath.

"Can we just drop this please?" I asked. "I really don't want to have to relive that again."

They nodded, but Alice jumped in. "It's just that we've never seen Edward fly off the handle like that. He _never_ loses his temper. Well, except for when Emmett and Jasper do something to piss him off, but that's a completely different story," she added as an afterthought. Emmett and Jasper smirked devilishly at each other and pounded fists. Those boys were bound to be trouble.

"Good to know," I drawled before turning back to my food.

We dropped the subject even though I know that they wanted more details. I wasn't about to tell his family that my lady parts found his rockin' bod and come hither stare sexy as hell, so my mouth was staying shut.

I felt a tap on my shoulder near the end of lunch. I turned around and saw Tanya staring down at me. Her cronies were standing behind her. "Isabella, can I have a word with you?" she ground out. I didn't like the way she said _Isabella _(or the fact that she called me Isabella in the first place),so I knew something was about to go down.

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "I don't know. Can you?"

Tanya growled. "_May _I have a word with you?" Well, she wasn't a complete moron.

I spun around in my seat and gave her a bland smile. "Sure, Tanya. Why not?"

"Alone."

I pursed my lips and clicked my tongue. "I'm not really feeling the whole moving thing right now. How about you just say what you wanna say and then we'll move on. Okay? Okay."

She scowled, but didn't walk away. "Fine." She bent down, her face a few inches from mine. "Stay away from my Eddie. _He_ is mine. He's going to be homecoming and prom king with me, and _you_ aren't going to get in the way of what I want. Seriously-"

_What the fuck is she rambling about?_ I held up a hand. "I'm going to stop you right there. First, you need to back the fuck up." I pushed her away with a finger. "Second, have your parents taught you nothing? People aren't property, even if they are chauvinistic pigs." I heard the group snort from behind me. "And third, you can have him. I don't want anything to do with him." Alright, the last one was a lie, but it pissed me off that it was a lie.

Tanya scoffed in indignation. "You little bitch! How dare you say that about Eddie!"

"Tanya, shut the fuck up!"

Everyone turned around to find a slightly - and by slightly, I mean very - pissed off Edward. He was glaring at the both of us. "Tanya, we went out once. _Once _during freshman year. I am not your boyfriend. I never have been. Drop the fucking homecoming and prom king shit too. I don't give a shit about it. And for the love of fuck, stop calling me Eddie!" _There he goes again with the dirty words…_

Tanya stared at him in shock. "But Eddie-"

Edward growled and she stopped talking immediately. _Good God, that is sexy- _stop it!

I pushed down the tingling that was running up and down my body at the mere sight of him. It only made me more angry that the tingling was there in the first place. "As much as I enjoy this soap opera-esque scene we've got going on here, I'm gonna go." I nodded in the direction of the door and got up, gathering my stuff as I did. "Tanya, it was lovely speaking to you." I gave her my sweetest smile. The smile slipped from my face when I looked over at Edward, who was scowling and glaring at me. I matched his scowl with my own. I gave my best Tanya impression and flipped my hair over my shoulder and walked towards the door without acknowledging him. "See you guys later," I called to the rest of the group. The bell rang as soon as I walked out the doors. _Perfect timing._

I headed towards the bio building and found my classroom. The teacher wasn't in the room, but he had instructions written on the board.

_Wait to be seated. I will assign you your lab partners._

_No, you cannot switch seats. Don't complain._

_Well, he seems like a cheery person. _I sighed and leaned against the wall as other students started showing up. I wasn't really paying attention to who was walking through the door, so I didn't notice that the teacher had walked in until the bell rang.

"Alright, everyone. Welcome to AP Biology. Sit with the person that I've assigned you and then we'll get started," the teacher said, his voice monotone. _Lovely._

He started calling off names. "Isabella Swan and Edward Masen."

My head snapped up and my eyes shot around the room and sure enough, there he was. Edward was scowling at me again. _I'm beginning to think he doesn't like me that much anymore._ Good, it'll help me get over this stupid infatuation I have with him.

I glared back, but went to sit down at the table we were assigned. Edward trudged over as well and threw his stuff down and sat down. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the front of the class, avoiding eye contact with me. _Yeah, keep it up. You're only making this easier for me._

It's easier to hate assholes than nice guys. And Edward is slowly making his way toward asshole and farther away from nice guy. From what I've seen so far, he's pretty good at both.

We didn't say a word to or look at each other for the rest of the class period. When Mr. Banner, our teacher, told us that we had the rest of the period free when he had finished with his first day spiel, Edward got up and headed over to one of the other lab tables where his friends were sitting.

I pulled out my book and started reading, hoping to leave my horrible day behind while I read about fictional nice guys that I wouldn't mind falling for. _Unlike someone…_

I sighed in relief when the bell rang and headed towards the auditorium where our "etiquette" class was being held. Apparently, all the juniors had to take this class. Why we had to take it, I had no idea. Most of us grew up in households where etiquette was something that was taught from birth, we knew how to act in public. Even if a choice few refuse to use those teachings. I am one of them. And proud of it.

I threw myself down in one of the chairs. A few minutes later Alice and Jasper showed up and sat with me.

"I think God's trying to smite me," I said, letting my head rest on the back of the seat as I stared at the ceiling.

"And why is that?" Alice asked, humoring me.

"_He's _my bio partner. He was about as happy as I was about it. He just glared at the board all period until Banner let us talk."

Alice and Jasper chuckled. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," Alice sang. _Whatever. _I didn't want to deal with cryptic giggling right now anyway.

"Jazz," _his _voice called. Jasper turned towards Edward as he walked down the aisle of the auditorium.

"Hey, man. What's up?"

"Coach extended practice an hour for the rest of the week," Edward said. "Spread the word, will ya?"

Jasper groaned. "_Really?_" Edward nodded. "Damn. Yeah, I'll let the rest of the guys know," Jasper sighed.

"Thanks, man," Edward said. He turned to Alice. "Alice." She gave him a nod. His eyes flickered over to me and a scowl crept onto his face again. I gave it right back to him. He rolled his eyes and headed towards the front of the room where his friends were sitting.

"Edward is the captain of the soccer and baseball teams. He's really good," Alice explained.

_He's the man in charge too? _Fuck my life. "Goody for him," I drawled. Alice snickered.

Once everyone was in their seats, a stick of a lady came onto the stage. She was older with dull brown hair that was pulled into an extremely tight bun at the nape of her neck. He was wearing cat-eyed glasses that made her look kind of scary. Her outfit was that of a schoolmarm and the scowl on her face was just downright frightening.

"Hush, children!" she barked in a low voice that did not match her body type whatsoever. Everyone got really quiet, really fast. "I am Mrs. Hugenstien. I will be teaching you all about how to conduct yourselves in public like the young ladies and gentlemen that you are." I almost snorted. I was the farthest thing from a lady and I can say the same about some of the others in here.

"I want boys on the left, girls on the right. Move it, children!" Mrs. Hugenstien snapped.

The guys moved to the left side of the auditorium and girls to the right. "Young ladies and gentlemen do not interact together in public unless told that they can do so." _What the fuck is this woman going on about? This isn't the nineteenth century._

"You will all sit this way until we start the unit on how to interact with the opposite gender," Hugenstien said.

The rest of the class was Mrs. Hugenstien going on about how the youth of this day in age were "so disrespectful" and knew nothing about how to behave like "proper young ladies and gentlemen." What a bunch of bullshit.

When the bell finally rang, everyone jumped from their seats and ran towards the exit. I had to agree with the student body on this one. When Alice and I were outside, we met up again with Jasper.

"What is that woman on? Doesn't she know that this is the twenty-first century, not the nineteenth?" I ranted.

"I have no idea," Alice said, rolling her eyes. "She's known as 'The Nazi.' I think it fits. What was up with splitting up the guys and the girls? That is so not cool. I missed my Jazzy." She turned to Jasper and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled sweetly down at her and kiss the top of her head. They really were adorable.

"I'll see you guys later," I told them. They waved and pointed me in the direction of the music building. They both had small smirks on their faces when I left. _Weird. _I sighed. One more period until freedom.

I headed into the music building and into the main room. A genuine smile slipped onto my face for the first time today when I walked into the room. The sight of the multitude of instruments lying around the room made me feel at peace. I sighed and sat down at the back of the classroom. I've had enough people staring at me for today. Sitting in the back made it harder for them to stare without being obvious.

People wandered in and sat down. They gave me odd looks. They were probably freaked out by the smile on my face. It was a new look for them.

And the smile promptly disappeared when the bane of my existence walked through the door. _Why, God? Why? Why are you doing this to me?_

Not only is he beautiful, charming, sexy, smart, and athletic, he's musical too? You have got to be kidding me?

_Maybe he sucks… _That's stupid. Of course he doesn't suck. Then he wouldn't be perfect.

Edward spotted me and his signature (well, it's signature now seeing as it's his only facial expression when he's around me) scowl fell into place. He stomped off to a seat near the front of the room, not sending me another glance.

The bell rang a few minutes later and a tall man wearing a colorful scarf and a monocle came into the room. "Good afternoon, my loves," he chirped in a high falsetto voice. _He was definitely batting for the other team. _"Welcome back. So I hear we have a new student in our midst today." His eyes locked with mine. "Will you introduce yourself please?"

Just when I thought I was going to get through the entire day without having to do this, my last teacher has to. Ugh. I stood up reluctantly as they all turned around the stare (except for Edward who was glaring at the front of the room). "I'm Bella Swan. I'm from Seattle." I wasn't about to open up to these people. That was all they were getting.

"And what are your musical capabilities?" Mr. Sharp, I think that was his name, asked.

"Vocals and a bit of piano," I said.

Mr. Sharp looked pleased. "It's nice to have another vocalist around. Thank you, Bella." I gave him a nod and sat back down.

For the rest of the period, Mr. Sharp excitedly (and flamboyantly) described what we were going to be doing for the year. "As you all know, we have a performance at the end of each quarter. This quarter's theme is duets, so I will be assigning pairs later. I just wanted to give you all a heads up." Lovely. I get to be paired with one of the stuck-up snobs. Goody for me.

The bell rang a little while later and my first day was finally over. Thank God. I gathered my stuff and quickly ran out the door.

"Bella!" I heard someone call from behind me. I looked over my shoulder and nearly froze where I stood. _He _was walking towards me. I wasn't going to deal with this right now. I picked up my pace, ignoring him as I sped towards the dorms. He finally got the hint that I didn't want to talk when I nearly ran through the front door of my dorm. I snuck a peek out the window next to the door and I saw him sigh in frustration before heading off to wherever he was going. I sighed in relief and headed upstairs.

And now here I am, laying on my bed with a pillow over my face, just hoping that all of this a dream and I'm going to wake up in Seattle again.

I pinched myself to see if I was awake. I was. And that hurt like a son of bitch.

I groaned and rolled over. And off my bed. I grunted as I hit the floor. _Smooth, Bella. Real smooth. _I got up slowly and walked over to my closet to grab some sweats and a tee shirt. I didn't want to be in this uniform any longer. I got dressed quickly and crawled into bed. I just wanted to go to sleep and forget today even happened.

I closed my eyes and didn't open them again until Alice woke me up again the next morning.

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><p><strong>AN: Alright, guys, hope you liked that. I really enjoyed writing this chapter. And I will admit that I actually laughed a little as I was writing it. I know, it's lame to laugh at your own jokes, but I'm alright with that.**

**Reviews are better than smart, handsome athletes that can totally rock a sweater vest.**

**Laters,**

**Cat :)**


	6. Ch 5 The Universe is Out to Get Me

_**Let the Games Begin**_

**A/N: Hey, peeps. I'm back. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I really like to hear from everyone. And if any of you are getting PMs from the username DarkGoldenEyedAngel, that's me. I have two accounts on Fanfiction and sometimes I forget which one I'm logged in under at the time. Just wanted to let ya'll know. Alright, I'm done rambling. Read on. **

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><p><em>Chapter 5<br>__The Universe is Definitely Out to Get Me_

_(EPOV)_

I am so fucking confused right now.

And to top it all off, today sucked ass. And I'm talking fucking huge amounts of ass.

Sure, it started off alright. I woke up, did my usual thing. Shower, get dressed, go get breakfast. I met up with the guys at our usual table. Most of my friends were on the soccer or baseball teams with me, including Jazz and Emmett.

While Jazz and Emmett were essentially my brothers/best friends, they were always sitting with Alice and Rose (who happened to act like the sisters that I only sometimes wanted), and I didn't want to subject myself to their coupliness all day long. So I sat with the guys. We were a ragtag group to say the least, essentially the Rat Pack of St. Alex's.

First, there was Seth Clearwater, my right hand man and one of the preppiest guys that you've ever seen. He was probably one of my closest friends and I've known him the longest besides Jazz and Em. He was about my height, tanned skin, short black hair. While he was an awesome friend, he loved to rag on me about the "mating pheromone" that I supposedly sent out to attract all of the "ladies." I would always shoot back with some comment about his boat shoes and shorts with the ducks on them. That shut him up, but he continued to wear them. To each his own, I guess.

Then there was Sam Uley, Ian McCormick, and Jared Cooper.

Sam was huge, almost as big as Emmett. Senior. Longish black hair, built like a tank, and probably the one of the nicest and shyest guys you will ever meet. He wasn't very outspoken, but he attracted a fair amount of attention from the ladies, even though he's dating Emily West, a quiet senior girl who was perfect for him. _That sounded very chick-like. Ugh._

Anyway… moving on.

Ian was the dramatic one of the group. A little shorter than me, blonde hair, blue eyes, and the quintessential drama freak. When he wasn't playing soccer, he was on the stage acting out some scene. Even when he isn't backstage with his fellow actors and actresses, he gossiped like an old church woman. If there was something stirring up somewhere on campus, Ian was the first to know about it. And we were the first to hear it from him.

And Jared was your typical surfer dude. A little taller than me, brown floppy hair, blue eyes. He played baseball with me and he got me into surfing. _Which I am pretty good at, if I do say so myself… but I digress. _Whilethe rest of us didn't exactly enjoy the attention we got from the multitudes of girls that drooled over us, he didn't seem to mind too much. He was a self-proclaimed man-whore and he was quite proud of this. Be that as it may, he didn't look twice at any of the girls at St. Alexander's. They were all fake… and kind of stupid, now that I think about it. He calls himself a "classy" man-whore with some "standards." _Whatever gets you through the day, man._

And then you have me. Edward Anthony Masen III. If anything, I would call myself the rocker of the group. My wardrobe consisted of ratty jeans, Chucks, and rocker tees. I was constantly messing around with my guitar or piano or whatever instrument I could get my hands on. I loved any sort of rock music. Classic, punk, alternative, hard, metal. Rock was my life.

But most people didn't know this side of me. They only saw the soccer and baseball captain who also happened to be the junior class president and the top of my class. The guy who could get any girl he wanted and used this to his advantage to get _with_ any girl. Basically, they were calling me the man-whore, when I wasn't. I'm an one woman kind of guy. Yeah, I dated a little bit when I first got to St. Alexander's, but after the first few fiascos, I just stopped trying. But that didn't stop people from gossiping about me. I guess they could be saying worse things, but none of it was true.

This is basically us in a nutshell. The prep, the loner, the drama king, the man-whore, and the closet rocker. Most people don't understand why we hang out together and, to be honest, I don't understand it either, but we mesh, so we just go along with it.

I grabbed a cup of coffee and a few strips of bacon from the line and headed over to my usual table. I wasn't much of a morning person and everyone knew it. People would throw smiles and waves my way as I approached my table, but they wouldn't try to come up to me. One of the small perks of being "Mr. Popular" I guess.

I reached my table and set my bag down and plopped into my usual chair. "Not get enough beauty rest, Mr. President?" Seth taunted playfully. I shot him a glare and a grunt, before turning my attention back to my coffee. _Nectar of the gods_, that's all I'm going to say about that.

Sam, Ian, and Jared showed up a little while later. "So where's your ladylove today, Eddie?" Ian asked, pulling out his chair and plopping into it.

I glared at him over the rim of my coffee cup. I despised the name Eddie or any other variation of my name. It made me sound like a horse.

I raised an eyebrow at him. He sighed. "Fine. Where's your ladylove today, _Edward_? God, so touchy."

I ignored his last comment. "What 'ladylove'? I have no idea about who you're talking about?"

"That girl that you were macking on last night at the party," Jared explained.

Oh, her. Bella Swan. "Oh, right," I said, looking down at my coffee. "I don't know where she is. I'm not her keeper. And she's not my 'ladylove'. It was just a dare."

They all looked at each other before they all busted out laughing. "If that was 'just a dare', then I don't want to know what it looks like if you actually like the girl. It would be like watching a live porno," Seth said, cringing a little.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Classy, Seth. And don't even tell me that you wouldn't enjoy the whole porno thing, you fucker. Because you would."

He looked thoughtful for a second and then nodded his head in agreement. "You're right, as usual, Oh Wise One."

I rolled my eyes again and flipped him the bird. "Bite me," I muttered.

"Gladly," a voice said from behind me. I whipped my head around to find Tanya standing there in all her slutty glory. Her uniform skirt was hiked up to her ass and her shirt was insanely tight, showing off her surgically enhanced chest. I held in a shudder when she ran her hand over my back.

Tanya was the only one stupid enough to actually approach me in the mornings. If I wanted to talk to you, then I would find you.

"Hey, Eddie," she breathed into my ear. _Again with the name…_

"Tanya," I ground out. I grabbed her hand and pulled it off my body. "What did I tell you about touching me?"

She just gave me a blank stare. I sighed in exasperation. "Let me remind you. _Don't. _You lost that privilege when you turned into a psychotic bitch."

She scoffed and stormed off. I let loose that shudder that I had been holding in. "Great, now I have to go sanitize myself before class," I grumbled.

The guys just laughed. I glared at them. "Laugh it up, dickwads. I might let it slip that you're all interested in her pack of walking STDs. You won't be laughing when their rubbing their nasty asses all over you." That shut them up really quick. If that rumor started going around, we would never get rid of them.

Sam was the one to change the subject. "Don't look now, but your lady has decided to grace us with her presence."

I looked over at the doors and saw Bella walking with Alice. She looked just as pissed off at the world as I felt. She definitely wasn't a morning person. Something we had in common.

But despite her glaring expression, she looked beautiful. She even managed to make that dull school uniform look good. I couldn't help but notice the little accents that she had added to it. Her checkered knee-highs and scuffed up Chucks made her look like some sort of Catholic school girl/rocker chick hybrid. Her hair was thrown up into a messy ponytail, blue and brown tendrils falling around her face. Honestly she looked like she didn't give a shit about her appearance. And I liked it. It was refreshing.

"Aww, Eddie's smitten with the new girl," Seth cooed.

I shot him a glare. "I am not." _But I can't stop thinking about her and she could be my soul-mate. _

_Great, now I _really do_ sound like a chick. I needed to check and see if my dick had inverted and I start growing a pair of ovaries._

They all gave me dubious looks. "Whatever," was my brilliant response as I pushed away from the table. I grabbed my blazer and bag and headed over to my family's table.

Bella was sitting there, clinging to a large cup of coffee like it was her lifeline. _That's another thing we have in common. _

I looked down to make sure that I hadn't grown a pair of boobs overnight. This girly emotional shit is screwing with my head.

I spent the rest of breakfast with my family and Bella, laying the charm on as thick as I could without looking like a complete douche. As usual, however, whenever I was around my family, I found myself in some sort of embarrassing situation. Today it involved me nearly covered in coffee and falling backwards out of a chair onto the floor.

Apparently Bella was shocked that Alice, Emmett, and I were related. They obviously hadn't told her that small fact. She spit her coffee out of her mouth and nearly coated me in it. It shocked the crap out of me so I fell backwards out of my chair and fell head first onto the floor. _That hurt like a bitch, by the way._

Bella showed another hidden side of her when she raced to my side and asked if I was alright. She was sweet and so fucking adorable when she was embarrassed.

I played it off as cool as I could and got out of the cafeteria as fast as possible.

I headed to my first class, shaking off the rush of feeling that I got when Bella was near me. My schedule was pretty routine for me. AP History, Spanish III, AP Lit, Pre-Cal, Lunch, AP Bio, Etiquette (_Lame, I know, right?_), and Music III. I had soccer practice after that for two hours.

My first two classes were boring as shit and would probably stay that way for the rest of the year.

All throughout those classes, my mind kept wandering back to Bella. She was the first girl that had ever caught my attention and held it for more than five minutes. I kept thinking about the kiss that she and I had shared the night before and how it was the best kiss of my entire life. I thought about her brown eyes and how they sparkled with mischief, like her mind was constantly thinking of ways to cause a little bit of trouble. I thought about her I-don't-give-a-shit-about-what-you-think attitude and how it was probably one of the hottest things I had ever seen.

For the first time in my life I thought I had found someone that could see the real me, not the Mr. Popular mask that everyone else saw.

I made my way over to the English building and found my Lit class, all the while thinking about Bella. I found a seat in the back of the class, not wanting to be the center of attention. I pulled out my book, _Othello_, while I waited for class to start. I know, what teenage guy reads Shakespeare for fun? I do. I wasn't into today's fluffy teenage fiction that was floating around. I preferred the classics. You know, something with a little depth, not some frilly vampire romance or some shit like that.

Seth and Jared were in this class with me and they sat next to me. They didn't bother me, knowing that when I was reading, I didn't like to be disturbed unless it was for a good reason.

I heard someone sit next to me on my other side, but I didn't bother looking to see who it was. Seth said something about our game against Oceanic Prep had been moved up a week and I instantly began coming up with things we really needed to work on during our now shortened training time before the first game of the season.

There was a scuffle coming from behind me and I turned to find Mike Newton's, the bane of my existence (well, one of them anyway), hand on some girl's ass. That in and of itself pissed me off. You just don't treat a girl like that. When I noticed that it was Bella that he was groping, I was suddenly livid. _No one touched her except for me. She was mine._

I couldn't stop that possessive train of thought from developing before I was out of my seat and my fist was connecting with his face in a second's time. I gave him a lecture about manners before he scurried back to whatever hole he came from.

I turned back to Bella to apologize for my behavior and she just flipped out on me.

I knew that she could take care of herself, it was one of the things I liked about her, but whatever happened to chivalry, defending a girl's honor and all that?

My mother would have been appalled at my behavior after Bella's little bitch fit. I yelled back at her, giving it as good as she gave it. _If she was going to yell at me, I was going to yell back._

I knew it was irrational, but her little episode pissed me off beyond belief. I had no idea what I did to her. Last night she was probably the coolest girl I had ever met. And this morning she showed me that she did have a caring side to her. And now she was acting like a complete psycho.

And I was confused as all hell too. She showed me that she could be amazingly sweet and adorable. And I knew that she was independent and I liked that in a woman, but what had I done to her to make her go off on me like that? She had been bouncing around in my head all morning long and there was no way for me to get her out. My idiotic, hormone crazed mind even went as far to imagine us together, but that was obviously not a possibility now because she was pissed at me for no reason whatsoever and I was pissed at her for being pissed at me.

This irrational train of thought made it impossible for me to calm down, so I was fuming for the rest of the day.

I tried to confront her during lunch, but she was being attacked by Tanya when I showed up. I had to set Tanya straight before I could deal with Bella, but Bella left before I could even talk to her. And I was left with the entire cafeteria staring at me while I lectured Tanya about personal space and the fact that _we were not dating and we never had been_. I'll admit that I wasn't one to go off on people, especially girls, but Tanya was the exception and I used a few words with her that would have horrified my mother beyond belief.

The universe obviously decided that today was my day to be punished because it decided to rub the fact that I would never be with Bella in my face. Bella was my lab partner in AP Bio, and she was also in my etiquette class (that was to be expected though considering all of the juniors took it at the same time), and my music class. She wouldn't acknowledge me in any of those classes with anything other than a glare.

Music was supposed to be my safe haven. The one class where I could be myself and work on my one true passion and forget about all of the bad things that happened during the day. But now _she _was there to constantly remind me that for some reason, she didn't want to be anywhere near me.

After school let out for the day, I tried to catch up with Bella to ask her what her problem was. To maybe find out if all of this was a big misunderstanding and I could maybe have a chance with her. And if not, then get back to focusing on school and music and sports (the things that I had been focusing on before she came here) so that I could forget her and move on. The latter would probably be harder than it sounded if it came to that.

But she ran away from me and hid away in her dorm. I couldn't wait for her to resurface because I had soccer practice and, being captain and all, I couldn't exactly skip practice because of a girl. Coach would probably shit a brick if he found out.

I ran across campus to the locker rooms and ran inside. Everyone else was already there and getting dressed. "We're in black today," Jazz said when I made my way to my locker.

I nodded, trying to catch my breath. Thank God I already had everything I needed here because my brain has been so fried today that I hadn't even thought about my equipment.

"Where've you been?" Jazz asked as he pulled his practice jersey over his head.

"Nowhere. I got caught up after class," I said as I changed out of my uniform and pulled on my practice gear. I sat down to start strapping on my shin guards. Jazz nodded, accepting my excuse, and started putting on the rest of his equipment.

We headed out onto the field after everyone was dressed and went up to Coach Strickland. Coach Strickland definitely lived up to his name. Once the season started, he cracked the whip. We had a strict diet and conditioning routine. And now that our first game of the season has been moved up a week, he was bound to be on our asses a lot more than he normally would be.

Coach wasn't a complete dick all of the time though, just during the season. He was actually one of the most laid back guys I've met. He was young too, only in his mid-thirties, but he knew his stuff when it came to soccer.

"Alright, guys," Coach said, gesturing for us to gather around him. "We've only got three weeks before our game against Oceanic Prep, so get ready for the toughest three weeks of your lives. Mile, go!" He blew his whistle and off we went.

I hung back a little, trying to clear my head so that I could focus on practice and not my completely suckish day. Jazz and Em slowed down until they were in line with me.

"Are you feeling okay, man?" Emmett asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said shortly. I really didn't want to get into this.

They didn't look convinced. "If you're fine, then what was up with you're freak out today in Lit? The last time I saw you do that was when Emmett told the cheerleading squad that you were holding auditions for your next girlfriend."

I shot a glare over at Emmett. "I will get you back for that. Those girls wouldn't leave me alone for weeks." Emmett shrugged and nodded, but he looked pleased with himself and I could have sworn that I heard him snicker under his breath. _Fucker._

I turned back to Jasper. "I did not have a 'freak out' as you oh so eloquently put it. She freaked out on me, not the other way around. I just reacted."

Jasper scoffed. "Well, I've never seen you _react_ to anybody like that before. Whatever happened to 'walking away' and 'discussing things with a level head' like you usually do? Flipping out on girls is not something that you do."

He was right. I didn't normally flip out on girls, or anybody for that matter, unless they really deserved it.

"And the whole Newton thing. What was that about? I know he's a dick and everything, but did you really have to punch him?" _He just had to keep bringing back the memories._

Emmett looked shocked. "Wait, stop, rewind. You, Mr. Let's-Be-Rational, punched Mike Newton? For what?"

I huffed out a breath in frustration. I _really _didn't want to get into this now. "He was being a dick. I was tired of his behavior, so I stopped him. End of story."

"But what was he doing?" Emmett pressed.

I wanted to say that the douche was grabbing the girl of my dreams' (well, former dreams now, I guess) ass, but I refrained. "He grabbed some girl's ass and I was tired of his piggish behavior. I punched him. He stopped. Nothing else to tell."

Jasper snorted. "Some girl, my ass. If you want to call Bella Swan 'some girl' then you're delusional. That girl's a pistol if I've ever seen one."

Emmett's eyes widened and looked like they were about to fall out of his head. "Bella Swan? As in the new girl? As in the girl that you had a full on half-naked make-out session with in front of the entire school? That _Bella Swan_?"

I rolled my eyes at him and let out another huff. This conversation needed to stop now, or I was going to punch _him_ for dragging it out.

"Yes, that Bella Swan. The bipolar lunatic that enjoys launching into massive bitch fits for no apparent reason," I grumbled bitterly. "Ungrateful little…" I started muttering under my breath.

They were both quiet for a second before they both got the same Cheshire cat-like smile on there faces. "Eddie likes the new girl," they sing-songed.

I glared at both of them. "I do not," I ground out. Not anymore anyway.

I picked up my pace and sped past them until I was at the front of the pack. I could hear both of them snickering from behind me.

I was angry at them for bringing all of the crap that happened today back to the front of my mind. I was angry at them for calling me out while the entire team was around us. And I was angry that they were right.

I'm just lying to myself every time I thought about her.

_You don't like her._ Lie.

_She's annoying and not worth your time._ Lie.

_She's just a distraction. You don't need her. _Lie.

The more I thought about it, the more that I wanted to reconcile with her. I don't know what I did, but I wanted to find out and fix it. But with the way she was acting, I doubt that was going to happen anytime soon.

But every time I got near her or even thought about her now, I wanted to rip my hair out in frustration. She made me feel these things that I've never felt before and it was driving me fucking mental.

I raked my hand through my hair as we finished up our laps and headed to the middle of the field to stretch before we started our drills. We started practice, but I wasn't really focusing.

Because Bella fucking Swan had taken residence in my brain and wouldn't leave me alone. It's like the universe sent her here just to screw with my head.

_Well, it's working, you fuckwads._

We were doing a basic drill, running down the field, passing the ball back and forth until we got to the end and then we had to shoot. Seth had kicked the ball to be and I was about to pull my foot back to kick the ball when my other foot skidded out from under me on a muddy patch of grass. I missed the ball completely and I landed flat on my back in a puddle of mud.

_Fuck you all. I hope you have your livers pecked out by vultures. _I cursed under my breath, but I made no move to get off the ground. Today just couldn't get any worse could it.

"Masen!" Coach yelled. "Get off your ass and back in the drill! If you want to sit on your ass, then go join the football team!"

"Yes, sir!" I called. I rolled over and pushed myself off the ground, not caring if I got any dirtier. My eyes flickered over to the other field where the football players were having their practice. They were all giving us dirty looks (Newton included) and the coach was giving Coach the stink eye. Coach didn't even notice, but I heard a few of the guys start to snicker. I forced the smirk from my face and got up.

Now that I was up, all of the guys were looking at me like I had just declared myself a cross dresser with every intention of starting up a drag show in the middle of the field. It's like they've never seen me mess up before.

_It's because they haven't _ever _seen you mess up. Ever. On anything._

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that until today, I hadn't ever messed up. (Well, not as monumentally as today.) Whether it was on the field or in the classroom, I looked like the poster child for perfection (even though I was far fucking from it). I hadn't realized how uptight that made me look.

_Now is not the time for you to be coming to terms with your flaws, fuckwit. Get it together!_

I flicked the dripping mud from my arms and shook my head, flinging as much of the muck off of me as I could. I cracked my neck once, a blank look on my face. I wasn't going to acknowledge the fact that I had made a complete fool out of myself because I was thinking about some stupid little girl.

_Of course you were thinking about her, dunce. You never stopped._

I kicked the motionless ball out of the way and looked over at Seth. I motioned for him to kick the ball my way again. He gave me a confused look before kicking it over to me. As soon as it was lined up with my foot, I reared back and kicked it with all of my might, rocketing it past Jazz, who was our goalie, before he could even move and into the top right corner of the net.

I looked over at Coach and he gave me a look at said "get it together or I'll bench you for the rest of the season, but good job anyway". I gave him a nod and the drill continued on.

I focused a bit more on practice after that, but didn't stop the cosmos from fucking with me some more. I was hit in the head with more balls than I could remember and tripped more than once.

When Coach finally called for the end of practice, I was practically on the verge of a mental breakdown. I couldn't get my brain to shut off with thoughts of the temptress that was Bella, my head was throbbing from the multiple beatings that it had gotten, and my ego was bruised beyond recognition.

No one dared talk to me as we walked back towards the locker room. They all knew better.

I was jerked back suddenly when someone grabbed my shoulder. I whipped around to find Newton standing there, his arms crossed over his chest in defiance. He just looked stupid to me. There was a bruise spreading under his eyes and covering his nose completely. I couldn't stop the smirk from slipping onto my face at the sight. A few of his football teammates were standing behind him, their stances identical to Newton's.

"May I help you?" I asked, finding this little stand off that he thought he was having with me a little bit amusing. My day had already been tragic, so Newton must be the comic relief.

"Did you think that you could get away with punching me with any consequences?" he growled.

"Well, it seems as if I already had…" I looked at his friends standing behind him. Oh, he thought he could beat me up with the help of his little friends. Ha! This guy was hysterical. "Oh, are you going to punish me for being a bad boy?" I heard my own teammates snickering behind me. "Sorry, dude, I don't swing that way. I'm sure you'll find someone who will love you for you though. Good luck with that." I gave him a smirk before turning back to the locker room doors.

I knew he was going to try to start something when I heard him growl behind me. I whipped back around just as he swung at me. I caught his arm mid-swing and pushed him away. He stumbled back towards his teammates. He looked back up and I could have sworn that I saw him cringe when he saw my glare.

"You need to fuck off. Now," I ground out, my anger building again. I definitely was not in the mood to deal with fuckers like Newton right now.

He met my glare with one of his own. Then a sly smirk slid onto his face. "Fine. I'll leave you alone. But I can't say the same about your girlfriend. Bella, isn't it?"

I saw red then. She wasn't even speaking to me and all I wanted to do was protect her from dicks like Newton. I stalked forward and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "If I see you anywhere near her, I will beat you until not even your mother could recognize you. Do you hear me? Stay the fuck away from Bella Swan." I let go of his shirt and shoved him away from me before I stormed past my teammates and into the locker room. I grabbed all of my stuff from my locker and raced out the door before anyone could even ask what was going on. I was thankful for that because they wouldn't have gotten an answer other than my fist meeting their face. I was so fucking riled up right now, I could just about kick down a fucking building.

I walked to my dorm as fact as I possibly could without looking like a complete freakshow (well, more of a freakshow since I was still covered in mud and sweat and my face was probably bright red with rage).

I made it to my dorm and threw open my door and bolted it shut. I turned off my phone and my computer. I didn't want to talk to anybody.

I took a deep breath and rested my head against the top of my desk. I don't think I had ever been that angry in my life. And all because he decided to bring Bella into the conversation (if you could call it that).

She didn't even like me and I felt some weird and frustrating… _something _for her and I completely flipped my lid at the mere mention of her name.

And I didn't even correct Newton when he called her my girlfriend. If that got around school, then she would definitely hate me (and probably castrate me. I had no doubt that she had the ability.). She didn't seem like the kind of girl that tolerated rumors like that.

I sighed and walked to my bathroom. I was going to take a long and very hot shower and I was going to wash away this heinous excuse for a day.

And maybe I'll try to stop thinking about Bella.

_Not likely._

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><p><strong>AN: Oh, goodness, Eddie boy's got a bit of a dilemma. Haha. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.**

**Reviews might earn you a visit from a hot and sweaty Edward. Yum-O. ;)**

**Later then, **

**Cat **


	7. Ch 6 Who Wants to Be Normal?

_**Let the Games Begin**_

**A/N: Hey, guys, sorry this is late. I got my wisdom teeth out on Wednesday and was completely out of it for a couple of days. And now, I'm essentially writing this chapter while high on pain pills, if it shows, I apologize... unless it's funny, then I don't. Haha. Alright, read on.**

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><p><em>Chapter 6<br>__Who Wants to Be Normal When You Can Be a Total Spaz Instead?_

_**(BPOV)**_

When I woke up the next day, I wasn't expecting this day to be any better than the day before. I still had the wear that heinous uniform, be around all of the carbon copies that were my peers, and Edward Masen was still kicking around in my mind like the demon spawn that he was.

_Very hot demon spawn- _Gah!

I groaned and climbed out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom to find Alice in there fixing her hair. "Good morning, Bella," she chirped. She was _way _too happy for this early in the morning.

"There is nothing 'good' about the morning," I grumbled. She just snickered and went back to fixing her hair.

"Were you feeling okay yesterday? When I came back you were practically comatose," she said, concern coloring her tone.

"Yeah, I was fine. Just tired." _Tired of your fuckhot cousin messing with my head._

"Okay," she said, accepting my answer. She left me to myself then, finishing up her hair. I brushed my teeth and my hair, throwing up into a messy ponytail again (What? It's fucking hot out there.) I bitched under my breath about the damn uniform as I threw it on before grabbing my bag and following Alice out the door.

When we walked into the cafeteria, everyone stared at me like I had gone completely mental. News travels fast around here. Apparently it's frowned upon to have shouting matches with Mr. Popular during Lit class. Who knew? I sighed, focusing on the line in front of me. It was way too fucking early for this kind of shit and I was seriously lacking any sort of caffeine.

When Alice and I reached our table, Jasper greeted Alice with a kiss to the cheek and gave me a head nod. I gave him one back. He was becoming one of my favorite people here. He knew when it was alright to talk to me and when it wasn't. _Smart man. _Rose and Emmett gave me quiet greetings (well, Rose was quiet. Emmett was loud as all hell, but I contained the cringe that nearly escaped me.) as well and they both got a nod and a grunt. It was the best I could do at the moment.

I sighed into my cup of coffee, attempting to wake up, when I felt someone looking at me. Well, everyone was looking at me, but this gaze felt different, like they were trying to bore a hole in the middle of my forehead. I looked up to find Edward Masen staring at me, his expression a mix of annoyance, confusion, and... regret, maybe, I don't know. I suppose I understood the annoyance. I _did _basically go off on him with no explanation whatsoever yesterday. And I could understand the confusion. He's probably mindfucked beyond recognition with trying to figure me out. But the regret I didn't understand. What did he do, or was it something I did, that he regretted?

I stared back for a second before ripping my eyes away. Looking into his eyes was only going to get me in trouble again and I honestly did not need that shit right now.

The fifteen minute bell rang out and everyone started to gather their belongings and trash to start to head to class.

I grunted a goodbye to everyone before heading to class. History and pre-cal were both complete snoozefests and I was struggling to stay awake and keeping a certain pair of emerald green eyes out of my head. Thinking about him only made my stomach churn and my blood pressure rise.

When the bell rang signaling for second period to end, I sighed and gathered my books and trudged slowly to Lit, trying to convince myself that I shouldn't say "to hell with it all" and go back to bed for the rest of the day, effectively avoiding Edward for the rest of the day.

He had come after me yesterday for a reason and he didn't strike me as the kind of guy that gave up easily, so I knew that he would be looking for me again. The look he was giving me earlier at breakfast only solidified my hypothesis.

But skipping on the second day of school was only going to get me into trouble and I didn't want to have to deal with any sort of administrative type person at the moment. All of them seemed to find joy in lecturing teenagers with what they thought was the "right" path to follow. Well, I knew they were all wrong and I wasn't going to deal with them today. I was choosing my battles, so I sucked it up and walked into the English building and towards my Lit class.

I cursed under my breath when I saw Edward already sitting at his seat at the rear of the class. I scowled at him and trudged towards my seat.

I placed my stuff down on the ground, making sure that I didn't make eye contact with him and hoping it would keep him from trying to talk to me.

"Bella." No such luck.

I ignored him, praying that the bell would ring soon and Mrs. Young would enter the room.

"Bella," he tried again. A hint of frustration was starting to build up in his voice. Once again, I ignored him. He would give up eventually.

"_Bella_."

"Leave me alone," I finally snapped at him, turning my glare onto him.

"Not until you fucking explain what the hell happened yesterday," he ground out. _Again with the potty mouth. _He was going to be the death of me with his soul-searching stares and his trucker's mouth.

"You annoyed me. End of story," I said, grinding my teeth together to keep from shouting at him again. I didn't want anymore attention than I was already getting.

"What? I-" Edward was cut off by the bell ringing and Mrs. Young walking through the door, stopping all conversations.

Thank you, Lord. I don't think I could have gotten through that conversation without blowing up at him again or jumping him. Considering the former would only bring more attention to me and only piss me off more, that option was a no-go. And the latter would have been oh so very wonderful, but it would also make me look like a hypocrite, something else that I didn't want to be classified as. Bitch? Sure. Emo loner chick? Why not? Hypocrite? Not gonna happen.

Edward growled (_God, so damn sexy... Stop!_) and huffed in frustration, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at the front of the room.

Mrs. Young started her lecture about something that I honestly couldn't tell you about even if I had listened because Edward kept sending looks over at me and he was starting to put me on edge. After about twenty minutes of the constant staring, I gave up and raised my hand. "Mrs. Young?" I asked, trying to sound as polite as possible.

"Yes, Isabella?" she asked. I cringed a little at the name, but ignored it. She was my only way out of here.

"I was wondering if I could go to the nurse's office. I'm starting to get a headache," I lied. I really needed to get out of here and away from Edward, immediately, for the sake of my sanity and the health of my respiratory system. The looks he was giving me were making it hard for me to breathe.

"Of course," Mrs. Young said. I was about to give a internal cheer of triumph when she turned to the class and asked, "Who would be willing to escort Isabella to the nurse's office?"

Edward raised his hand as soon as she asked. "I will, Mrs. Young," he said, pulling out the teacher's pet voice that I should have assumed that he'd have already mastered and the smile that could get him anything.

"Thank you, Edward. That's very sweet of you," Mrs. Young cooed. Yeah, _cooed_. He had everyone wrapped around his perfect little finger. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes when he smiled again and started gathering his belongings. I sighed and started gathering my stuff as well, seeing as there was no way for me to get out of this now.

Mrs. Young handed us a pass and then we both headed out the door. We were both silent as we exited the English building. That is, until Edward broke the silence.

"Look, Bella, I'm sorry if I did something to offend you yesterday, but I'm not really sure what I did," he said.

He apologized. Seriously? Now he's making me feel bad about what I did. I held in a sigh. I couldn't tell him the truth without him thinking that I'm a complete spazoid, so I did the same thing I did yesterday, deflect.

"As I said yesterday, I can take care of myself. I don't need people looking out for me. I can do that myself. I don't need some guy with outdated views on how women should be handled to start watching over me like I'm some sort of damsel in distress," I growled out.

I glanced over at him to find him glaring at me, a seemingly genuine look of hurt on his face. "Well, I'm sorry for stepping in yesterday then. I was raised to treat women with respect, so excuse me for doing what I had been taught to do." He sighed, looking away from me. "The nurse's office is in the main office building. It's the first door on the left. I won't bother you anymore."

And then he turned away and headed in the opposite direction, leaving me standing there in shock. That was it? That's all he was going to do? He was just going to give up, just like that? I knew that Edward wasn't the sort to give up without a fight. He definitely wasn't the type. I could have sworn that he would have tried a little harder than that.

Now I really felt like a pile of shit. He had apologized for yesterday and I went and threw it back in his face like a complete bitch. There was just something about him that threw me off in so many ways that I had no idea how to fucking handle him.

I sighed and started to head to the nurse's office. Now I really did have a headache.

_**(EPOV)**_

I apologized to her and it got me nowhere. I still didn't know what I did and now she's even more pissed off at me.

I sighed and headed into my dorm building. There wasn't any point in going back to Lit and I definitely didn't want to be questioned by anyone. I threw myself down on my bed and stared up at the ceiling.

I guess her reaction gave me my answer. She didn't want anything to do with me and I wasn't going to pressure her into anything, so I guess I was just going to have to forget about her.

And that definitely was going to suck ass because even if she had completely dismissed me, I couldn't get her out of my head.

_**Two weeks later...**_

The past two weeks have been... awkward, to say the least. And I swear I'm having more mood swings than a women on the rag.

It was exactly six days before our first game of the season against Oceanic Prep and I'm about to lose my fucking mind all because of a girl. A girl that wants abso-fucking-lutely nothing to do with me.

Or so I thought.

There were times throughout the past two weeks where I've caught her looking at me. I would feel someone's gaze on me and I would look around only to find Bella Swan staring at me with a look of confusion on her face. And I had no earthly fucking idea why she was confused. She made her point pretty freaking clear the last time we spoke.

That's right. I haven't spoken to her in two weeks ever since that day in Lit. And it's been driving me insane ever since. She was always sitting with my family too, so I couldn't exactly go over there to talk to them without it being so tense between the two of us that not even a friggin' chain saw could cut through it.

Today, Coach pulled me out of Lit to ask me what the hell was going on with me. Apparently I wasn't doing a good enough job of covering up my mood swings. I've been up and down for the past couple of weeks and it's seriously throwing me off. I couldn't focus. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. There was just something about Bella Swan that threw me the fuck off and I had no idea how to fix it.

"Masen, what the hell is going on with you lately?" Coach asked after I slouched down into one of the seats that sat on the opposite side of his desk.

"Nothing, sir," I said, trying to keep my voice level.

He just kept staring at me. I finally just gave up and sighed, running my hand through my hair and resting my forearms on my knees. "Okay, there might be something."

He was quiet for a moment. "Who is she?"

I looked up at him in shock. How did he _know_ this shit? "What? She who?" I stuttered.

"Don't give me that BS," he said. "Tell me who she is because she's obviously got you all messed up. What's her name?"

Well, there was no way I was getting out of this conversation. I sighed. "Bella."

He gave a calculating nod and pursed his lips. "And this Bella... is she pretty?"

"Gorgeous," I said, sighing and leaning back in the chair again.

"And do you like this Bella?"

"Yes," I finally admitted. There, I said it. I like Bella Swan. Only one small problem with that. She hates me. "But she wants nothing to do with me."

"Ah," Coach said, pressing his fingertips together. "I see. So, you've got girl on the brain and she's throwing you off. I can understand that. Women were put on this earth to fuck with the minds of men everywhere. That is a statement of fact, but every woman has a weakness. Whether it be chocolate or teddy bears or something entirely different, they all have one. And the only way that you are going to straighten yourself out is to find that weakness and use it. Now don't think that I'm saying that you should exploit that weakness to no end, but use it to soften her up a bit. Get the answers you need to fix yourself and do it quickly. I can't have my captain having a bout of PMS on the field against Oceanic Prep."

"Yes, sir," I said, staring at him in shock.

"Good, now get out of here and pull yourself together," he said, turning back to his computer.

I got up, throwing my bag over my shoulder. "Um, sir?" He looked over at me. "Can we, um, keep this conversation between us?"

"No problem, Masen," he said before turning back to his computer again. I gave him a nod and headed out of the office.

I chuckled when I hear his sigh. "Teenagers."

I pretended to pay attention in Pre-Cal and bolted out of the room as soon as the bell rang. I needed some time to think about what Coach said to me.

It seemed almost impossible to even fathom that Bella Swan had a weakness. She was one of the toughest girls I had ever come in contact with, so I had nowhere to start.

I trudged through the lunch line, but only picked up a Gatorade. I couldn't stomach anything else at the moment.

I fell into my usual seat next to Seth, throwing my stuff down on the ground.

They all gave me weird looks. "Dude, are you feeling alright? You've been acting weird lately," Seth asked tentatively, like he was afraid he would set me off on one of my mood swings. Unfortunately, it happened more than once over the past couple of weeks, so I couldn't really blame him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I muttered, my voice sounding really fuzzy in my own ears.

"You sure? You've been off ever since that day in Lit. You never did tell us what happened when you took Bella to the nurse," Jared piped up.

I sighed. _God, I've been sighing way too fucking much. I really need to make sure I haven't grown a vagina. Only chicks sigh this much. _"I took Bella to the nurse. I asked her what I did to her to make her flip out on me and then she flipped out on me for asking what I did to make her flip out. It pissed me off and I didn't feel like yelling at the girl again, so I told her where the nurse's office was and skipped the rest of Lit. She hasn't tried to talk to me since then. End of story," I rambled.

They all stared at me in wide-eyed shock. "Dude, you got it bad," Sam said after a moment.

I groaned and banged my head against the table. _And fuck, if that didn't hurt._

"She doesn't want anything to do with me and I can't get her out." _Thud. "_Of." _Thud._ "My." _Thud._ "Fucking." _Thud._ "Head." _Thud._

"Okay, Edward. Jesus Christ, don't give yourself a concussion," Seth said, pulling my shoulders back so I couldn't inflict anymore pain on myself.

I groaned again. "I don't know what to do. She's distracting me and I can't focus on _anything_."

"Did you try to apologize to her?" Ian piped up.

"Yes, and she flipped out on me," I ground out. I pressed the balls of my hands into my eyes, trying to work some frustration out.

"Maybe you should woo her," Seth said, his mouth turning up into a smirk.

"Does Bella Swan seem like the kind of girl that can be _wooed_?" I asked him, my eyebrow cocked.

"Not really," he said after a moment of thought.

"Exactly."

"Have you ever considered just talking to her?" Sam suggested. I looked up at him. "Most girls like it when guys just talk to them and listen. Maybe you could start off small. A 'hey' here and there or something."

"That could work... if she was talking to me," I said, really considering the whole concussion thing again. _Maybe she likes the whole wounded guy thing._

"You just need something for the two of you to talk about. Maybe get together for a study date."

"A study date? And how exactly am I going to get her to agree to one of those when she hasn't said a word to me in two weeks?" I asked.

They were all quiet then. _Ah, now the fountains of wisdom have finally trickled out. _

Someone cleared their throat from behind me. I turned around and nearly swallowed my own tongue. Bella Swan was standing there, her fingers playing with the strap of her messenger bag.

"Edward, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked. She seemed uncomfortable, like the multiple pairs of eyes that were on her made her uneasy.

"Uh, sure," I stuttered out. _Really, dude, could you sound even more like a total loser?_

"Okay," she said quickly before walking out the doors of the cafeteria.

I stared after her for a second. _Well, if she wasn't fucking with my mind yet, she was now._

"Dude, go after her," Seth said, shoving my shoulder. "This is your chance."

I shook myself from my stupor and got up and followed her out of the cafeteria. She was leaning against the wall of the building, her eyes trained on the ground. She looked amazing today. Her hair was down for once, so I could see that her brilliant blue highlights stood out against her dark brunette waves that stopped just below her shoulder blades. Her uniform had morphed into its own entity over the past couple of weeks. The customary skirt (held there by a belt with a seatbelt looking belt buckle) and shirt (unbuttoned at the top to showcase a bright purple t-shirt underneath that may or may not have had a monster eating a cupcake displayed upon it) were still there, but the tie had been replaced by multiple strands of beaded necklaces. Her arms were covered in bracelets that she kept pushing up and down her arms. Her knee socks were now multicolored zebra print and her beat-up Chucks still adorned her feet. She looked freakin' adorable.

"You needed to talk to me?" I asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, yeah, um, look. Today in Lit, Mrs. Young gave us an assignment and she said we had to work in partners and seeing as you weren't in class today to pick out a partner and I don't really know anybody that well yet, Mrs. Young put us together," she rambled out.

"O...kay," I said. "So we're partners?"

"That's what it looks like," she muttered.

"And what's the assignment?" I asked.

"We have to perform a scene from a Shakespearean play."

"Alright, did she assign scenes or something?"

"Oh, yeah," she said before digging around in her bag for something. "We've got to do Act I, scene i of _Much Ado About Nothing. _You know the dialogue between Benedick and Beatrice?"

"Yeah, I know it," I said. Yeah, I fucking knew it. It was the scene where Benedick and Beatrice fought like dogs. _Great, just what we need, another fight scene._

"Okay, good, um, I guess we'll have to get together sometime to work on it," she said.

"Yeah, we can work that out later, if you want," I said, thanking the Lord that I wasn't stuttering like a prepubescent little boy at the moment.

"Yeah," she said, trailing off. "Well, we'll work on the details later then."

"Yeah," I said. She gave me a little nod before whirling around and heading in the opposite direction.

I stood there dumbstruck for a second. Did that really just happen? Did I really get partnered up with Bella Swan?

Yes. Yes, I did and it was exactly the in that I needed. The smile that spread across my face right then should have split my face in half.

I walked back into the cafeteria and then was pounced on by my friends.

"Dude, what was that about?"

"What happened?"

"What did she want?"

"Whoa, guys, chill out," I said, holding up my hands to keep them at bay. "Apparently, Mrs. Young partnered us up for some assignment in Lit that _someone_" I eyed Jared and Seth. "forgot to mention to me."

Seth and Jared shrugged. "Oops."

"_Oops? _Did you not see me having a small panic attack not ten minutes ago about this girl and all you can say is 'oops'? _Jesus Christ._" _Fuckers. _"Anyway, we've got to do this scene for the class and now we have to get together to work on it."

"See, I told you, study dates. They always work," Sam said, looking rather proud of himself.

I chuckled. "Well, we'll just have to wait and see."

_**(BPOV)**_

I bolted away from Edward as soon as I got out exactly what I needed to say to him. Being around him was driving me up a motherfucking wall and I had no idea what to do about it.

Ever since that day a couple weeks ago, he hasn't said a word to me. And I guess that was my fault. I flipped out on him _again_, but seriously, it was for the best. Being near him was only a distraction that I couldn't afford at the moment.

But the world apparently has it out for me, so today in Lit, Mrs. Young stated to the class that we would be starting our first project as a group assignment. With partners to be exact. She let everyone pick their partners, so me being the new girl, I only knew a few people in the class. Alice, Jasper, and... Edward. The latter of the three wasn't even in class today for reasons unbeknownst to me.

Alice and Jasper were already partnered up, so that left me alone.

"Does everyone have a partner?" Mrs. Young asked the class.

I raised my hand to let her know that I was the loner freak who didn't have a partner. "It's alright, dear. Edward isn't here today, so you can just partner with him."

"Okay," I said, agreeing because I knew that it was either be his partner or fail. And failing definitely wasn't an option, so I guess I was stuck with him. _Not that you mind at all. It'll just give you more time to stare at him like the pseudo-stalker that you're turning into. Gah!_

Alright, I admit it. Ever since the "nurse" incident, I've been watching Edward. I mean, how could I not. He was in half of my classes and for some reason ever time he was around, I could feel this sort of buzzing sensation moving through my body. He caught me looking at him a few times and I quickly looked away, embarrassed that the boy that I've freaked out on _twice _now caught me staring at him like some freak.

He had to think that I'm some sort of mental patient that escaped the ward somehow. I don't know what I'm doing around him at all, and now I have to actually work with him without me having another irrational breakdown in front of him.

Mrs. Young gave me two copies of the assignment sheet, one for me and one for me to give to Edward.

After Lit, I muddled my way through my next class and then headed off to lunch, nervous butterflies (more like hawks) tearing around in my stomach. I barely managed to suck down some Dr. Pepper during lunch and everyone else at the table noticed.

"Are you alright, Bella?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, focusing on the top of the table and avoiding everyone's gaze. Over the past couple of weeks, I had gotten closer to Alice, Rose, Emmett, and Jasper. They were the closest things I've ever had to be considered friends and they could already see right through me.

They didn't push me for any other information, but I knew that they really wanted to. I lifted my eyes to the other side of the cafeteria and saw him there, sitting with his friends. He looked amazing, as always. His uniform was neat and tidy, but not so much so that you would think that he was uptight or anything. His blazer was unbuttoned. His tie was loose around his neck. His Chucks were still there. His hair still had that just-woke-up-from-the-best-sex-of-his-young-life look. My God, he was just glorious.

_And those thoughts right there are the reason that you should be avoiding him._ Perfect people like him do not need to be around mentally unstable people like me. My kind of people only screw up the perfect people's lives.

But seeing as he was my partner for this project, he was going to have to deal with my brand of crazy for a little while.

After I bolted away from him, I realized that I forgot to give him the assignment sheet. Oh, well, I'll just give it to him in... bio. _Shit! _I completely forgot that I have to sit next to him in bio. Great, just great. Today cannot get any worse.

I slowly make my way to bio, as if moving slower will make my fucked-up situation any better.

I flopped into my seat, thankful that Edward wasn't there to see my freaked-out self just yet. I really needed to calm down before he saw me again, or else he'll be ready to call the dudes that carried away people in those lovely white straight-jackets as soon as he sees me.

By the time Edward showed up to class, I've calmed myself down enough to be able to speak to him coherently for at least a minute. He placed his stuff down and pulled out his notebook. He sat back up and then turned to me, sending me a small smile. _So freaking cute... _Facepalm. _Get it together, woman._

I dug around in my bag until I pulled out my Lit notebook. I pulled out the assignment sheet that I was supposed to give him. "I forgot to give you this. It's the assignment sheet for the project," I explained. Wow, did I actually manage to get that out without stuttering. Yes, I did. _Thank God for that._

I handed it to him and he took it from me, his fingers brushing mine slightly. A shock ran through my body when he touched me and I gasped. He jerked his hand back like he had been burned and looked up at me in surprise. "Um, thanks," he said, rubbing his hand a little.

"You're welcome," I muttered.

He was quiet for a second before he spoke again. "When exactly did you want to get together to work on this?"

"Oh, um, well, I've got nothing after classes, so anytime would be fine," I muttered.

"Okay, I've got practice right after school until about five everyday, so how about six, on Tuesday? Will that work?" he asked tentatively, like he was afraid I would snap at him. _You haven't done anything to make him think otherwise, you spastic loon._

"That would be fine," I said, looking down at the table and shifting my hair over my shoulder, hoping to use it as a shield so that he wouldn't see my flaming face right now.

"Okay, sounds good," he said, his voice hitching a little. I gave him a little nod before he turned back to the front of the room.

_Awesome, Bella, just awesome. _Why in the world can't I just talk to him like a normal fucking person? I'm either muttering at him like I'm some sort of anti-social hermit or flipping out on him like a total spaz.

_God_, why can't anything be easy anymore?

_**(EPOV)**_

_I've got a date with Bella. I've got a date with Bella. I've got a -_

Alright, it's not a real date, it's just a study date, but still. She's talking to me now, sort of. She's just kind of muttering at me now. But still, it's the longest conversation we've ever had, so I'm going to take that as a good sign for now.

And we're going to see each other outside of school, which according to my friends, is a good way to get to know the real Bella. And to get to know the real Bella, I have to get her away from school and let her be herself. And once I see that, I can find that "weakness" that Coach was talking about. And once I find out what that is then... we'll see where it goes from there.

She was quiet in bio, just listening and writing her notes. She wasn't doodling like she usually did. _Yeah, so I may have watched her a little bit. _She was just writing, her hair pushed back behind her shoulder, her cheek resting on the palm of her hand.

My God, she was just beautiful. It took almost all of my will power not to just say _fuck it_ and jump her right then and there. I mean, I know what it's like to kiss her, so staying away from her was even harder than it would have been even if I hadn't known. And I could have sworn that she enjoyed that kiss just as much as I did. In fact, I know she did. The look she gave me afterwards only solidified that fact, but why was it so difficult to get her to even speak to me when we had already kissed?

It must be a chick thing because there is no way that I'm even remotely close to figuring out how Bella Swan's mind worked.

Only time could tell me that.

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><p><strong>AN: Edward and Bella have a date. Edward and Bella have a date. Edward and Bella have- alright, so it's not really a date, but whatever, they're finally getting together. Woot woot! Anyway, sorry again for the wait. Wisdom teeth are the demon spawn of all molars. Le sigh. Hope you enjoyed that.**

**Reviews are awesome. Leave me one please.**

**I've also made a Polyvore account for this story, so if you want to check that out, feel free. The link is at the bottom of my profile page.**

**You guys rock. Next week... the study date. Duh, duh, duh!**

**Laters,**

**Cat :)**


	8. Ch 7 Shakespeare and Teen Angst

_**Let the Games Begin**_

**A/N: Hey, guys. Thank you to all who reviewed. I really appreciate them. This is the longest chapter to date, so I'll let you go ahead and get started on it. Alright? Alright. **

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><p><em>Chapter 7<br>__Shakespeare and Teenage Angst: Never a Good Combo_

_**(BPOV)**_

Today is Tuesday, but it's not just any Tuesday. It's the Tuesday that I'm supposed to meet up with Edward to get started on our Lit project. Which means that I have to be alone with him. In the same room. Together. With him.

As you can probably tell, this is setting me a bit on edge.

It's not the project I'm worried about. I love _Much Ado About Nothing _and the scene that Edward and I were assigned was one that I loved. It's the fact that I have to do it with _Edward _that's got me freaking out a little bit.

The bell had just rung signaling for the end of Lit class and everyone was collecting their belongings to head to their next class.

"Bella." I looked up to find Edward standing next to me. "We still on for tonight?" he asked.

I glanced around the room, making sure nobody heard him. Thankfully, no one was paying any attention to us. "Yeah, six, right?" I asked, trying not to look him in the eye because we all know that wouldn't end well. _Yeah, with him on the floor with me on top of him._

"Yeah," he said. He was quiet for a second. "Listen, we need a place to do this, right?" I nodded. "Well, I was thinking we could do it in my room. I mean, I don't have a roommate, so we wouldn't be disturbed or anything."

I could feel my cheeks heating up as he spoke. Just thinking about his room was making me think very naughty thoughts, thoughts that I couldn't be having if I wanted to keep my distance from him.

I considered it for a moment. We _did_ need a place to do this that was quiet and where we could get the most work done. So it seemed like the perfect place. _Yeah, keep telling yourself that, you nosy perv. You just want to get a look around his room._

I shook the dirty, but pleasurable, thoughts away. "Yeah, that would be fine," I told him.

"Okay," he said, sounding relieved. _Jesus, what did he have to be so nervous about? We're just practicing for a project. I mean, it's not like he likes me or anything. _"Alright, well then, I'll see you tonight. Or later today actually. Yeah, bye." And then he turned and started walking away.

So we were actually going to work on this thing in his room. Alone. Together. By ourselves. With no one around. This couldn't possibly be good.

... And it wasn't going to happen if I didn't find out where his room was. I had no idea where the boys' dorms were. Shit.

I walked quickly out the door, hoping to catch him before he ran off to his next class. Thankfully, I saw him just a ways ahead of me.

"Edward, wait," I called, walking as fast as I could with falling on my ass like I knew that I would if I tried anything other than a mild power walk. He stopped and turned to look at me, confused. I caught up with him, panting slightly. _Jesus tapdancing Christ, that boy had some freakishly long legs! _"Where's your room?" I asked him.

"Oh, um, you might need to know that," he laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck."I live in Downing Hall, room 512. Just come straight on up. Just tell them you're with me if anyone tries to stop you."

"Okay," I said. He nodded and gave me a small wave before heading off to his next class.

I stood there for a second, just watching his walk away. What in the name of all things good and holy was up with him today? He was acting so nervous and jittery. I mean, we were just going to be practicing for the project, no big deal, right? Right. So what was up with him? Nothing had really changed between us.

_Alright, stop right there. You know that right there was a damn lie. _I sighed and turned to head to fourth period. Things _had _changed between Edward and I. We were talking a little bit now. Granted, when we did talk it was about the project or something school related, never personal, and those conversations were few and far between. But he had been looking at me. I mean, not just staring at me like I had shit on my face or anything, but really _looking _at me, like he was trying to see into my mind, like he was trying to figure me out.

I snorted humorlessly. But why would he be doing that? It's not like he liked me. I mean, sure, we could be civil with each other if the need arose, but other than that, he didn't acknowledge me.

The nervous butterflies in my stomach weren't going to go away anytime soon, so I pushed all thoughts of Edward Masen to the back of my mind, hoping to God that I could make it through the rest of the day without some sort of major catastrophe happening.

_**(EPOV)**_

Holy. Fucking. Shit. When did I become a preteen girl with a crush? And what the fuck was up with the stuttering around Bella this morning?

_I _didn't stutter. Around anyone. At all. Not even when my dad caught me looking through his stash of "man" magazines when I was in the fifth grade. Thankfully, I didn't get in trouble for that. My dad thought it was funny and the proceeded to give me "the talk." Which is a horrifying thing to experience for anyone, especially an eleven-year-old with a father that likes to embarrass his only child, but I digress.

So what was up with me today? Maybe it was the fact that Bella Swan, the girl that I've been sort of semi-stalking for the past two and a half weeks, is going to be in my room tonight. _Tonight._

Holy shit, what have I done? I just invited Bella Swan to my room, granted it was just to practice for the project, but still. Bella is going to be in my room tonight and I'm so not ready for that to happen. _Is my room even clean? When was the last time I actually made my bed? How many pair of dirty underwear are on my floor right now? _Oh my God, I'm a fucking idiot.

_Yeah, an idiot that's going to have a panic attack if he doesn't calm the fuck down. _I leaned against the side of the building, taking deep breathes as I tried to calm myself down.

_Dude, just relax. She's going to be there for what, a hour tops? It's no big deal. She'll read her lines. I'll read mine. We'll polish it up a bit and done. See, no big deal. Everything will be just fine._

_Yeah, just fine. Everything will be great._

I took one last deep breath before heading into class, hoping that I could get through it without having another panic attack.

~x~X~x~

As soon as practice was over I ran back to the locker room to shower and grab my stuff.

"Dude, what's the rush?" Jasper asked as he gathered his own belongings.

I threw my cleats into my locker and slammed it shut and locked it. "I've got some place to be," I said quickly before sprinting back to my dorm. I ignored the looks I got as I ran across campus. I ran up the stairs, not bothering to wait for the elevator.

I fumbled with my keys for a second before I found the one to my door. I pushed open my door and looked around my room. I finally let myself breathe when I looked around my room and saw that it wasn't quite the hazard zone that I had built it up to be in my head. I threw my soccer bag into the corner of the room and my schoolbag onto my desk.

I walked around the room, picking up the dirty clothes that were littering the floor. I threw them in the hamper before attacking my bathroom. I tossed the used towels into the hamper as well.

Once my room looked presentable, I changed out of my uniform and into some basketball shorts and a t-shirt.

I looked at the clock. _5:27._

I sighed. I still had a little while before Bella get here. I sat down at my desk and pulled out some of my other homework, hoping to get most of it done (and to keep myself from going crazy by thinking about Bella).

I worked on my homework for a while before looking back up at the clock. _6:11._

Bella was supposed to be here by now. Did something come up or was she just late?

I waited a little while longer and she still hadn't shown up yet. _Alright, I know Bella and I hadn't been getting along but there's no reason she wouldn't show up to work on something for school, right?_

I pulled out my phone and called Alice. If anyone knew where Bella was, it would be her.

"_Hey, cuz," _Alice chirped on the other end of the phone.

"Hey, do you know where Bella might be?" I asked, getting straight to the point before Alice could go off on one of her hyperactive tangents.

"_Bella? Why would you need to know where Bella is?_" she asked, her tone laced with humor and intrigue.

"We were supposed to meet up to work on our Lit project at six, but she hasn't shown up yet," I told her, making sure none of my teenage girl angst slipped into my tone.

Alice giggled on the other side. "_I know, Bella told me. She should be there by now. She left like twenty minutes ago._"

"Okay, thanks," I said. We said bye and hung up.

_Where the hell was she? _I pulled on a pair of Nikes and headed downstairs. She might have gotten lost along the way.

I stepped off the elevator and was greeted with a pair of loud voices and one of the voices sounded angry... and very much like Bella Swan.

I looked over at the lobby and to find Bella glaring up at the obnoxiously familiar blonde head of Mike Newton. "For the last fucking time, Newton, let me go, or I swear to God, I will cut your balls off and shove them down your throat," Bella ground out angrily. _What did she mean "let me go"?_

I looked in between them and saw that Mike was holding onto her wrist. Just the sight of him touching her made me furious.

"Hey!" I barked. Everyone turned to look at me, including Bella and Newton. Newton turned a little green at the sight of me. _I guess my threat didn't sink in all the way. _Bella looked a little... relieved to see me. "Newton, what the fuck are you doing?"

I stormed over to them and pushed myself in between them, finally getting Newton to drop Bella's wrist. "Didn't I tell you to stay the fuck away from her?" I pushed him back a little.

Newton blanched a little before straightening up and putting a tough facade on. "You can't tell me what to do. If I want to talk to Bella, then I'm going to talk to Bella. You can't stop me." _Jesus Christ, he's a moron._

"Does it look like she wants to talk to you, or has she not threatened your genitalia enough? Really because most guys, you know, _the smart ones_, stop bothering a girl after the first few threats on our dicks. Most of us like to stay in one piece, if you know what I'm saying?" All of the other guys in the room that had been watching our little show laughed loudly, agreeing with me.

"Now, you're going to leave Bella alone, like she has asked you many times, I'm sure, otherwise, I won't stop her from doing whatever the hell she wants with you." I stopped for a second, thinking. "On second thought, I might just let you try one more time because, if she dismembers you, she won't be doing the world great disservice. We don't need any little Newtons running around here." The room roared with laughter again. As you can see, Newton wasn't the most well liked among the student population here at St. Alex's.

Newton blanched again and then scurried away with his tail between his legs like the pussy he was. I turned to Bella and she had that look on her face. The look that said that she was about to flip out on me again, but I wasn't going to let her do that again.

She opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off. I moved closer to her so that I could talk to her without people listening in. "Listen, I know you can take care of yourself. You've proven that time and time again, but Newton is a rare breed. He doesn't know when to give up and take a hint. He's going to come back again and again like the moron that he is, so I'm sorry for stepping in again, but he wasn't listening to you. But I know he listens to me. He learned that lesson the hard way."

She was quiet for a second, her chest moving up and down, her breathes deeper than normal. And then she sighed and looked down at the ground. "Thank you," she said tersely before turning around and heading out the door before I could stop her.

I was about to call her back because we needed to work on our project, but I just thought _fuck it_ and went back up to my room.

I sighed as I closed the door to my room. And here I thought thing were getting better between us. _I guess not._

_**(BPOV)**_

He had saved me. Again. That asshole Newton did not know how to take a hint. Every time I think I've finally gotten it through to him that he needed to fuck off, he would show up again with more shitty pick-up lines and disturbing innuendo.

And almost every time, Edward was there to get him to back off, making him run away like a scared dog.

He was not making it easy for me to stay away from him. Maybe it's a sign. Maybe I shouldn't stay away from him.

I snorted. Yeah, right. Like Edward Masen would go for someone like me. Sure, he was being nice and all and he kept Newton at bay for the most part, but other than that, I couldn't see why he would have any interest in me whatsoever.

This ongoing back and forth we had was exhausting. I really don't know how much more of it I can take.

~x~X~x~

The next day in Lit was awkward. Edward and I were sitting in our respective seats, waiting to see if one or the other was going to break the awkward silence that had fallen between us.

I sighed and turned to him, I had finally had enough. "I'm sorry I ran off last night. I know we were supposed to work on our project, but I wasn't really feeling up to it after the whole Newton situation." He nodded in understanding. "Look, I think that us getting together to work on this thing will only lead to more disaster." He tried to say something, but I cut him off. "I know my lines and I know you know yours, so let's just have a run through before class on Friday and be done with it, alright?"

He was quiet then before he gave a terse nod, his face tight and body stiff. "If that's what you want," he said tightly. I gave him a nod. He nodded back before turning back to the front of the class, his eyes trained on the board.

He didn't look at me for the rest of class. When the bell rang, he was up and out of his seat before I could even shove my books in my bag.

He was like that for the rest of the week, too. In bio, he was quiet and only spoke to me when we had a lab and even then, his responses were short and tense. He didn't look at me like he had before, his eyes always blank and dull whenever I saw them.

I didn't like it. There was no sparkle in his eyes. No soul-searching gazes. He just seemed totally lifeless and for some reason, I felt like it was my fault.

This guy, this handsome, confident, wonderful guy that used to be so full of life, had turned into a shadow of himself. He didn't joke around with his friends at lunch like I used to see him do. He didn't participate in class like he used to. From what I heard Jasper and Emmett say about their soccer practices, he wasn't as energetic as he normally was. He just seemed dead.

I had to fix this somehow. I may not understand why he was acting like this, but I had this feeling down in my gut that was telling me that I had to make this better.

When Friday finally arrived, I knew that today was going to be an interesting day. I walked into Lit and saw Edward sitting at his desk, his blank stare focused on the board once again.

I walked to my desk and put my stuff down. I sat down at my desk and waited for Mrs. Young to start the class. She came in the room a few minutes later. "Alright, class, our presentations will be starting today. I'll give each pair a few minutes in the hallway to practice before they go on." She called on the first pair to go and they started up and the class went on like that.

Finally, Mrs. Young called our names. "Edward and Isabella are up next. You two can go on out if you wish."

I nodded to Mrs. Young and got up and Edward followed.

He started off his lines. He knew them perfectly, but there was absolutely no emotion behind them whatsoever. And that would not do at all.

"Is that really all you've got? Come on now, someone like you should be able to do much better than that. That was pathetic," I taunted him, hoping to incite even the smallest bit of emotion from him.

And it worked.

I saw something flash in his eyes for the first time all week. Mrs. Young called us in and we walked back into the room. She set up the scene for us and then Edward started up his lines and I could barely keep myself from sighing in relief as he spoke them with so much energy and life.

"_If Signor Leonato be her father, she would not have his head on her shoulders for all of Messina, as like him as she is,_" Edward said, starting off Benedick's lines.

I got into character, pulling out my look of total boredom as I spoke Beatrice's line. "_I wonder that you will still be talking, Signor Benedick. Nobody marks you."_

Edward's eyes flashed and he let out a bark of laughter. "_What, my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living?"_

"_Is it possible disdain should die while she hath such meet food to feed it as Signor Benedick? Courtesy itself must convert to disdain if you come in her presence," _I sneered at him.

He snorted. "_Then is courtesy a turncoat. But it is certain I am loved of all ladies," _He actually turned to the class and sent the girls a wink and a smirk that nearly made me drop my jaw. The girls giggled and sighed at him and I honestly wanted to throw up a little bit. And then he turned back to me, a slight scowl on his face. "_Only you excepted. And I would I could find in my heart that I had not a hard heart, for truly I love none."_

I rolled my eyes at him. "_A dear happiness to women. They would else have been troubled with a pernicious suitor." _I could help but throw a glare in Newton's direction, even though I doubted he knew what I was talking about. "_I thank God and my cold blood I am of your humor for that. I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me."_

Edward gave me a look before smirking at me again. "_God keep your Ladyship still in that mind, so some gentleman or other shall 'scape a predestinate scratched face."_

I snorted at him. "_Scratching could not make it worse an 'twere a face such as yours were."_

Edward scowled at me again. "_Well, you are a rare parrot-teacher."_

I turned away from him and crossed my arms over my chest. "_A bird of my tongue is better than a beast of yours._"

He let out a barking laugh. "_I would my horse had the speed of your tongue and so good a continuer. But keep your way, i' God's name. I have done_." He gave a nod and a slight bow, his eyebrows raised teasingly and his smirk back in place.

I sent him a hard look. "_You always end with a jade's trick. I know you of old._"

I sighed once we were done. The class clapped and a few guys whistled. "Oh, that was just wonderful, you two," Mrs. Young cooed. "Just wonderful, such wonderful chemistry you have together." I slid my eyes over to Edward and our eyes met for a second before we both looked away quickly.

We both headed back to our seats and we watched the rest of the class do their presentations. I only looked at him once after our presentation and I couldn't hold back to little smile that slipped onto my face. His eyes were shining again, with what I didn't know, but they had a fire in them again.

I didn't care if he was angry at me, as long as he didn't move around like a zombie, then I was okay.

The bell finally rang and he was up and out of his seat as quickly as he had been all week. I didn't know what that was about, but at least he wasn't moping anymore, I hoped.

_**(EPOV)**_

"_...and be done with it, alright?_"

Her words echoed on my head, and I had finally had enough. I just stopped caring. She didn't want anything to do with me, so just stopped trying to do anything about it.

I pushed her out of my mind, along with everything else.

I just didn't care.

All week long I had people bickering in my ear.

"_Dude, snap out of it." _

"_Come on, man, do something." _

"_Edward, wake up." _

"_Do anything."_

But I couldn't bring myself to care about anything.

Until Friday that is.

On Friday, I got angry.

Today was the day that we were supposed to do our presentations in Lit and before class, I didn't really care about it. That is, until Bella decided that not caring wasn't going to be an option.

Before we went on, she taunted me and insulted me. Called me pathetic.

And then something finally clicked inside of my head and a fire roared inside of me again. And I was pissed. Because I knew she was right. I was pathetic.

When had _I_, Edward Masen, let a girl, or anybody for that matter, dictate how I lived my life? When did I let her gain so much control over me that I shut down completely when she wouldn't let me into her life?

The fact that I had let that happen pissed me the fuck off and it was going to stop right now.

So I went into Lit and did my presentation with Bella and fucking _killed _it. Because that's what I do. I rock everything I do, and I wasn't going to let some girl stop me.

~x~X~x~

Today was now Saturday and the first game of the season was later this afternoon.

I was sitting with the team at lunch like we always did before a game. Everyone around the room was decked out in royal blue and black, some with our numbers, others just in school memorabilia.

"Yo, Captain, you out of your funk yet?" Seth teased loud enough for the entire team to hear. I kept up my conversation with Emmett and flipped Seth the bird.

The team snorted and laughed. I smirked.

Yeah, I was back.

After we all finished lunch, we all headed to the locker room to change into our uniforms. We were wearing our blue uniforms. Now, here's the thing about these uniforms. They were nice because our school was loaded. Because, let's face it, it's a school full of rich kids. Rich kids with rich mommies and daddies that paid through the nose to send their children here. The only problem with these uniforms, the blue ones anyway, are that we looked a bit like smurfs when we wore them. Coach made us wear them because he said that the school paid for them and we weren't going to waste money by not wearing them. If we had our way, we would wear the black ones all season long, because, I mean _come on_, black just made everything look intimidating.

I sat down at my locker and waited for the trainer to come around to tape up my ankles. He finally came around and taped them up so that I could finally pull on my shinguards, socks (black, thankfully), and cleats.

The locker room was loud, rock and rap music blaring through the speakers that we had set up in the corner of the guys were basically yelling at each other, but no one bothered to turn down the music.

Coach finally came into the room and someone shuts down the speakers. "Alright, you all know Oceanic Prep is our biggest challenge every year and nothing has changed. They have been working on their offense and defense since last year, so I need everyone to be on their game today." He eyes shifted to me and I gave him a slight nod.

"Okay, now let's go kick some Penguin ass!"

I know what you're thinking. Penguin? Yeah, not exactly ferocious, if you know what I mean. Tiger, yes. Penguin, not so much.

Loud cheers filled the locker room and we all start towards the door. This was my time.

_**(BPOV)**_

Be honest with me, do I come across as the type of person that willingly goes to school funded events? _No? _Really because that's what I thought too.

But apparently this didn't compute with Alice and Rose. So here I am, standing in the heat, at a soccer game at two in the afternoon on a Saturday. On any normal Saturday, I would still be sleeping around this time. Yeah, that's right. I sleep obnoxiously late on weekends because I never actually sleep during the week. Why? I don't know. I just don't, so weekends are my catch-up days.

But not this weekend. Nope, I was rudely awakened at the crack of noon by a hyperactive Alice and a smiling Rose.

"Bella, my God, why are you still in bed?" Alice asked, pulling the covers off of me like the demented child that she was.

"Because I was sleeping. Normal people sleep in beds," I grumbled, burying my face deeper into my pillow and curling up into a ball.

"Well, you're awake now, so get up. We're going to the guys' game," Rose said, pulling on my arm.

"Game? What game?" Obviously, my brain has not started functioning correctly because if it was, I would know what game. Emmett and Jasper have been talking about this soccer game all week long. But seeing as my brain was not awake yet, it wasn't exactly computing.

"The game against Oceanic Prep. They're our biggest rival. Now get up and put this on," Alice said sounding exasperated before chunking a shirt and a pair of shorts at my head.

I grumbled and rolled out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom, cursing them both along the way. I pulled on the pair of denim shorts that could have honestly been a wee bit longer on the backend, if you know what I'm saying. But I put them on because, once again, my brain was not functioning yet. I slipped on the fitted t-shirt that had a number six printed on the front left-hand pocket. I could tell that there was more printed on the back, but I didn't care to see what it was.

I walked out of the bathroom and Alice thrust a pair of heels in my face. "Put these on," she said.

I looked at her like she had grown another head. "What the hell have you smoking, girl? Do you honestly think I'm going to wear those? Let me tell you. No."

Alice sulked as I pushed past her and dug in my closet until I found the pair of shoes I was looking for. "Aha!" I cried when I found them still in the suitcase sitting at the bottom of my closet. I smiled and went over to my bed so that I could put my knee-high converse boots on. I really loved these things. They were awesome.

Rose and Alice were giving me odd looks when I looked back up at them. "What?" I asked.

"Must you wear those things?" Alice pouted. I nodded, giving her a cheeky grin, much to her displeasure. Alice was the definition of fashionista while I was the exact opposite. I always just threw together whatever and went with it. Alice was up three hours early to pick out her outfit (even though it was the same one everyday) and fix her hair and make-up. I was lucky if I even rolled out of bed on time.

She sighed, giving up. Apparently I was a lost cause. Oh well. "Let's go," she said. I grabbed a ponytail holder before we filed out of the room.

As I was tying my hair up, I looked down at my shirt again. "Who's number six?" I asked.

"You'll see," the chimed together. Great, synchronized speaking. That was never a good thing when it came to those two.

We made it to the field and maneuvered our way into the "prime" seating location on the bleachers where you could see everything on the field. None of the players were on the field yet, but the stands were full on both sides. Royal blue and black for the home team's side, silver and purple for the visitor's.

I was getting scathing looks from almost every girl there for reasons unbeknownst to me. I shot them looks of annoyance as I looked around the field.

"So, when does this thing start?" I asked Alice, who was sitting next to me.

"In about ten minutes."

I nodded and stood. "I'm going to go to the bathroom and get some water," I told them. They nodded and then turned back to their conversation.

I squeezed my way back through the crowd and slipped into the bathroom before heading to the concession stand. By the time I got to the front of the line, I heard a roar from the crowd and a muffled voice start to announce the teams. I couldn't hear what the voice was saying, so I ignored it. I ordered a water and then headed back towards the stands.

_**(EPOV)**_

"And here they are, your very own St. Alexander Tigers," the announcer's voice boomed over the speakers that surrounded the field. A tiger's snarling roar ripped through them as we ran onto the field.

The crowd roared when we appeared, waving their banners and shaking their shakers.

We gave a wave to the crowd and then headed over to the bench. We ran a few warm-up laps before meeting back at the bench.

A few of the guys started whistling and howling at something, but I wasn't paying attention. "Damn, she's hot," I heard one of them say.

Seth tapped me on the shoulder. "Is that who I think it is?"

"Who?" I asked distractedly.

"Her," he said, pointing at the girl that had everyone in a hormone induced tizzy.

I looked up and I froze. _What in the hell was she doing here? _Bella Swan was walking next to the bleachers, a water bottle in hand.

Remember when I said that I wasn't going to let her have anymore control over me? Yeah, all of that? Down the drain.

She was wearing jean shorts that didn't look all that long and showed off her (I'll admit it) fantastic legs, half of which were covered by knee-high converse boots. _I swear she's trying to fucking kill me._ She was wearing a black t-shirt with some blue writing on it. I couldn't tell what it was by the way she was standing.

"She was the last person I ever expected to be here today," Emmett said, coming up behind me.

"Yeah," Jasper said. "Alice probably had something to do with it." _Damn that little pixie._

Before she could make it to the stairs of the bleachers, one of the guys called out to her. "Looking sexy, girl." Bella stopped and looked around before her eyes landed on him. She cocked her eyebrow like she normally did as she gave him a once over. She gave him a little smile before pressing two fingers to her lips and blowing him a kiss... and flicking him off.

The guys groaned and laughed at him as Bella rolled her eyes and walked back up into the stands. I was about to look away when I caught sight of what was on the back of her shirt. _Masen _was emblazoned across her shoulders, my number standing out in the middle of her back.

"Holy shit," I breathed.

"What? What is it?" Seth asked, looking in the same direction as me. He eyes widened when he saw what I saw.

"Shit, man, is that your..." I nodded, my head in a daze.

_What the hell was she doing wearing my number? Did she even know it was my number? Was she trying to fucking drive me crazy? Because she is succeeding. I'll be institutionalized by the end of the week._

Coach blew his whistle, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Alright, guys, focus. Do what we practiced and we'll be fine. Ready, tigers on three. One, two, three."

"Tigers!" we all yelled before heading out onto the field.

I ran to my position in the middle of the field and stood across from Oceanic Prep's captain. I scowled at him and he scowled right back. "Masen," he growled.

"Hunter." James Hunter was probably the only other person that I despised more than Newton. He was a sneak and a cheat and he loved to mess with my head. But I wouldn't let him this time. I already had a certain blue-streaked brunette doing that, so there was no room for him.

The refs were checking numbers and positions, so I snuck one more glance over at Bella. Surprisingly, my eyes met with hers. She raised an eyebrow at me. I raised one back. Her eyes swept down my body and her eyes locked on the middle of my chest and her eyes widened. _Well, that answers that question. _She obviously didn't realize whose number she was wearing.

And then her face changed. She brought her eyes back up to mine and she smirked. She brought her fingers up to her lips and blew me a kiss and fluttered her fingers at me.

I scowled at her which only made her smirk grow.

"Fine, if that's how you want to play it," I said under my breath. I flipped my scowl into a smirk and for a second, I could have sworn I saw something that resembled nervousness flash in her eyes. This was going to be good.

_Let the games begin._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Whew, that one was a doozy and a lot of shit when down. I hope you all were able to keep up. Sorry to all that wanted to see the soccer game, but seeing as I do not, nor have I ever, played soccer, I wouldn't be able to do it justice. I just enjoy watching it.**

**Well, it seems Bella and Edward have a very interesting year ahead of them. Review and you'll get more.**

**Outfits on Polyvore. Link on profile. Check it out if you want.**

**Until next week,**

**Cat :) **


	9. Ch 8 Never Leave Your Phone Unattended

_**Let the Games Begin**_

**A/N: Hello, all! I'm back again! I have a small announcement. I will be starting college next week, so the updates might slow down a bit. They might be every two weeks instead of every week. But don't worry, Edward and Bella's story will continue on.**

**Thanks for all of the reviews! They make writing this story so much more fun. :)**

* * *

><p><em>Chapter 8<br>__Never Leave Your Phone Unattended, You Might End Up Getting Chased By Harpies_

_**(BPOV)**_

I couldn't help but blatantly stare at him as he sprinted up and down the field with the masculine grace of a jungle cat. He was aggressive as he attacked the ball, stealing it from right under the opposing players' noses.

While he was the only one that I could focus on, he never acted like he was the star of the show (well, he was the star of my show at the moment, but we won't get into that right now). He played fairly, never hogging the ball like some of the opposing team's players seemed to do. Edward played well with his team which led them to a victory of 4-1.

I'm going to assume that the team did well considering the score of the game, but this is me we're talking about here. I know abso-fucking-lutely nothing about sports. Throughout most of the game, Rose and Alice were trying to explain bits and pieces of the game to me, but I had no fucking idea what they were going on about. So I just nodded and pretended that I understood whatever the fuck they said.

I'm the girl that trips over the floor and gives all of the horny school boys an unscheduled peepshow when I fall on my face, so you can see why anything that has to with physical activity is something that I stay the hell away from.

And don't think that I didn't see all of the shocked looks from all of the students when I walked in with Rose and Alice. They all knew that this was something that I wouldn't have come to unless I was forced. I guess I just gave off that vibe.

Oh, another reason that I avoid sporting events: jocks. Now I won't say that all jocks are steroid pumping douche bags, but there are some that just happen to fit that description. So when one of the guys from the team decided to embrace his inner douche, I promptly flicked him off and went about my business.

My eyes flickered over to Edward. He was sitting on the bench, a wide smile on his face. His face was still flushed from the game and his hair was damp with sweat. His eyes were sparkling as he celebrated with his team.

It kills me - that's right, _fucking kills me _- to say this, but I'm attracted to a jock. There. I said it. Edward Masen is a god among men and he's just fucking beautiful.

Now if only I could get over the fact that my parents would love him. He's smart. He's handsome. He goes to a prestigious school. He plays sports. He's president of the junior class.

He's like my parents' wet dream of the perfect guy. _And I say that with much horror and disgust. _

His eyes glanced over at the bleachers where I was still sitting with Alice and Rose as they waited for Em and Jazz. His eyes locked with mine and he smirked and winked at me.

I try to keep myself from reacting to that, but _my God, _he was just too sexy for his own good. I felt mortified when I felt heat rising in my cheeks.

What was wrong with me? I didn't blush. Ever. Nothing embarrassed me. At all. I would say the stupidest shit sometimes and not bat an eyelash, but one wink from Edward Masen and I light up like a pre-teen who just discovered the workings of sex. _No! _That shit needs to stop _right now. _

I sent a little scowl his way and his smirk only got bigger before he turned back to his teammates.

Now enough about me. What was up with him? Yesterday, he was all Mopey McGrump-Grump, and then he seemed to get angry for some reason (okay, I know what reason. I was the reason, but whatever. Someone needed to wake his ass up.), and now all of a sudden he's smirking all sexy like and playing flirty little eye games with me? If I didn't know any better, I would say he was bipolar and the docs gave him the wrong amount of meds.

Finally, the coach wrapped up his talk with the guys and they all headed towards the locker room. A little while later, they all came out, their hair wet from the showers and in normal clothes.

Edward was talking with Em and Jazz about something as they all came over to the bleachers. Emmett and Jazz went straight to Rose and Alice who greeted them with smiles and kisses.

I looked away from the couples, not wanting to intrude on a personal moment. I turned away and there he was, standing right in front of me, his arms resting on the railing in front of me.

"Hey, Bella," Edward said, looking the picture of ease, a smirk planted firmly in place.

I hummed at him, trying to look as uninterested as possible. But, _damn_, he looked nice. He was wearing a blue t-shirt with St. Alex's emblem on the front pocket that stretched across his muscular chest. The sleeves hugged his biceps (his very nicely _toned_ biceps) loosely. His dark wash jeans hung low on his hips and hugged his legs just enough for you to tell that he was hiding something good under there. You wouldn't think that he was hiding all of this godliness under those standard issue white button-ups and khakis that the boys were required to wear.

His hair was damp from his shower and it hung sexily into his eyes. On occasion he would flick his head to the side, trying to get it stay out of his face. This boy was unreal. He could totally be in a shampoo commercial with that move.

"Nice shirt," he said, his smirk growing wider.

I looked down at it and spotted the number six on the front. I rolled my eyes. Of course, Alice would give me a shirt with _his _number on it.

"I wasn't exactly in my right mind when I put this on," I said, my tone bored.

He nodded indulgently, the smirk still there. "Right," he said. "Well, right mind or not, you're still wearing it and I kinda like that."

_He likes it? What the fuck? _I kept a bored look on my face so to not alert him of my shock. "And why is that exactly?"

"It keeps all of the others away from you," he said. "One look at that name on the back of your shirt and they all run the other direction." He had a very satisfied smirk on his face now.

"And what if I said that I wanted the others around?" I asked him, leaning forward so that my face was closer to his.

He just chuckled and leaned in just a little closer and when I say a little, I mean he was very freaking close to me. I tried to control my breathing. He was just inches away from my face, my lips. "Well, then you'd be lying because I've seen the way you act around everyone else. And you've yet to punch me, so I'm going to assume that you like me, at least a little bit."

I took a steadying breath. "That can be easily rectified."

He didn't look bothered by the fact that I had just threatened him. In fact, he just chuckled again. "Whatever you say, baby."

Did he just call me "baby"? He did. I should have punched him just for using a pet name on me like I would have if anyone else had, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Actually, I liked it. I liked it a lot. And that scared the ever loving shit out of me.

He had stumped me. Or rather, I had stumped myself. I couldn't think straight whenever he was around. I'm so jumbled up inside because of him that I couldn't even think of an appropriate comeback before someone called his name.

He waved them off, letting them know that he was coming without moving from his current position.

"Someone wants you," I informed him. He didn't need to know that it was me that wanted him. And fuck, if I didn't want him so fucking badly.

He just smirked again, like he knew exactly what I was thinking. My eyes widened when he moved forward just a bit more so that his face was a mere inch from mine. "I'll see you around, baby," he said softly, his sweet breath fanning across my face. And then he kissed my cheek softly before heading off with a group of guys from the team.

I just stared after him in shock. I couldn't move. He had shocked me into stillness.

Seriously, I couldn't move. The feel of his lips on my skin just sent my mind into a tailspin. The same tingling feeling that I felt a few weeks ago when I kissed him was buzzing around in my stomach again.

I finally shook my head a little to clear it. I _really _needed to get ahold of myself. All he did was kiss my cheek. Guys kiss girls cheeks all the time. It doesn't mean anything.

Gah! This really needed to stop. I was going fucking insane over a guy that could never like me in a million years. Sure, he called me "baby" and kissed my cheek, but that doesn't mean that he likes me.

He was only doing those things to mess with my head and I wasn't going to let him do that. He doesn't get to do that. He didn't get to make me act like a pre-teen fangirling over some boy band.

If he was going to try to mess with mine, then I was going to fuck with his. He'll never know what hit him.

~x~X~x~

After the game, we all headed to the cafeteria for dinner. I sat down next to Alice and started nibbling on my food while she talked to Jazz. I was waiting for her to take a breath before I started working on my plan.

I could see Edward at his usual table, joking around with his friends. I couldn't keep the slightly devious smile off my face, but I pulled my face back to its usual bored expression. Thankfully, no one caught that. They probably would think I've finally fallen off my rocker.

Edward's entire table burst into laughter, probably over something that one of the guys said. Most of the cafeteria glanced in their direction, but didn't make too big a deal out of it. Alice looked up to see what the commotion was. Alice just smiled a little and shook her head. It was exactly the in I needed for this conversation.

I leaned over to Alice and asked quietly, "You're close to Edward, right?"

Alice smiled and nodded. "Yeah, we grew up together. He's more like another brother than a cousin actually."

I nodded. "So what's his deal? He's kinda hard to read." _Ain't that the truth._

Alice gave me a slightly suspicious look. "Why do you want to know?" she asked, a devious smile of her own on her face. _God, she probably thinks that I'm into him or something._

_You _are _into him, you twit. You just don't like to admit it._

"I'm just curious," I told her. "I mean, he's in half of my classes and I sit next to him in most of them."

There. That seemed like a reasonable enough excuse.

She gave me a sideways glance, but didn't question my motives anymore. "He's actually pretty quiet. I mean, he's not an introvert or anything, but he likes to keep to himself. He doesn't really like to get a lot of attention from people." She giggled. "Especially girls. I think it's rather funny considering his status here. Everyone thinks he's a manwhore or something with the way all of the girls tend to cling to him, but he hasn't gone on a date since the beginning of freshman year."

Two thoughts ran through my head.

The first:

_I could work with this._

The second:

_Really?_

"Really?"

"Yeah, he actually went on a date with Tanya before he realized what a dirty whore she was. That turned him off dating like that." She snapped her fingers.

_Tanya? He went on a date with Tanya? Seriously? _"I guess that's understandable."

She snorted. "Yeah. He never dated after that. I mean, it's not like any of the other girls were any better. They all wanted to be like Tanya, so he didn't exactly have any good options."

I glanced around the cafeteria and I saw what she was talking about. Every single girl looked like she had stepped off the set of _90210 _or _Gossip Girl_. It was a rather disturbing sight. "Yeah, I see what you mean."

Alice nodded sadly. "They all want to be with him, but none of them are interested in getting to know the real Edward. All they see is the good looking student council president or the jock. They only want him because of his popularity."

That was actually kind of sad. Not being able to tell who was genuinely interested in you for you had to be hard.

"Now, don't think he's miserable or anything. He's actually quite happy and stable in most aspects of his life. He's actually a bit of a prankster too. He loves to mess with people, especially people that he knows that he can get a reaction from."

_Don't I know it. _He had been fucking with my head since the very first time I saw him._ Well, the tables are about to turn, Mr. Masen. Just you wait._

I looked over at his table again. He was looking over here and his eyes connected with mine. That smirk that he was so fond of slipped onto his face.

I didn't want to give him any satisfaction, so I gave him a small smile and fluttered my fingers at him inconspicuously. He just shook his head at me before throwing a wink at me and turning back to his friends.

Oh, he was so going to get it.

_Just you wait._

~x~X~x~

Later that night, while Alice was in the shower, I pulled her phone from out of her purse and typed in her password.

Yeah, I have her password. She gave it to me.

Don't give me that look.

Ok, fine, I _may _have looked over her shoulder while she was typing it in earlier today, but whatever. It's for the greater good. It's not like I'm going to go around and pass it out to people. Alice is my friend and she's going to be my accomplice (unbeknownst to her).

No one will be harmed (except for maybe Edward's ego). Okay, no physical harm will come to anyone.

It'll be all good.

I scrolled quickly through her contacts and found Edward's number. I programmed it into my phone and placed Alice's phone back into her purse where I found it.

_Phase one is complete._

I laughed at myself. I really should have the _Mission Impossible_ theme playing in the background. I'm pulling some serious covert ops. here.

~x~X~x~

Now I had to find a way to get Edward's phone without him knowing. I couldn't do it today considering it was Sunday and I usually spent all of Sunday sleeping and doing homework that I probably should have done earlier.

So that left Monday.

I woke up as my disgruntled self on Monday morning as per usual. Got dressed, went to breakfast, found an IV to get enough caffeine in my system so that I could function...

I trudged slowly through first and second period, all the while trying to think of a way to get Edward's phone away from him.

It's not like I could just ask him for it or steal it out of his pocket. I was going to have to go into ninja stealth mode if I wanted to pull this thing off.

I walked into Lit and found that Edward was already there. He was at the front of the room talking to Jazz and Alice about something. His friends were up there with him as well.

I snuck into the room, and thankfully, he didn't see me.

As I put my stuff down I noticed that his messenger bag was sitting next to his desk. And sitting right there in the open pocket of his bag was his phone.

I glanced around the room and no one was paying attention to me, so I quickly pulled his phone out of the bag. The screen was still lit up and the phone was unlocked.

_Oh, baby, you are making this way too easy._

I downloaded the new ringtone that I was going to use and quickly changed it. I made sure that the volume on his phone was turned all the way up and then slid it back into the pocket of his bag.

_Mission complete. _Now I just had to wait.

This was going to be fucking awesome.

_**(EPOV)**_

Maybe it was wrong to tease Bella like I did after the game today, but I don't regret it. She was trying so hard to keep that bored look on her face that she's known for, but I saw right through it.

She was shaken up a little bit. I just couldn't resist messing with her a little. Her reactions were never what I expected and I liked that.

And when she moved her face just a mere few inches from my face I couldn't help but kiss her, even if it was just on the cheek. I wanted to feel that electricity that ran through me when we kissed last time.

I had never felt something so amazing before, so just a little zing made me feel energized.

And the look on her face afterwards was priceless.

~x~X~x~

My Sunday was spent doing homework and sleeping off the game. I'm always exhausted after a game because of all of the extra energy that builds up during it, so I sleep like the dead for the next day and a half.

Well, I was supposed to be doing homework and catching up on sleep, but just as I was about to tackle some pre-cal homework before an afternoon nap, my phone started ringing.

I looked down at the caller ID and saw "Mom" flashing across the screen. I sighed. I debated whether or not I could get away with not answering, but then I remembered the last time I didn't answer one of my mother's calls.

Let's just say that it didn't end well and the sound of my mother's scolding and the highly amused look on my father's face (I don't know why he was so amused. He got told off more than I ever did. Maybe he thought it was funny to watch it happen to someone other than him. You never knew with my father.) were still ever present in my memory.

I took a deep breath and answered the phone.

"Hey, Mom."

"Hello, darling. How're you doing? How's school?" my mom asked.

"I'm doing fine. School is school. The teacher's are boring and can't hold the attention of anybody for more than a second. I could probably teach some of the classes better than they could," I sighed.

Not that I'm trying to sound conceited or anything, but it's the truth. The teachers here seem to think that we're all idiots and teach at an elementary level. Seriously, I learned most of this shit back in middle school.

My mom laughed. "I have no doubt, dear. You've always been the smart one, no thanks to your father," she teased.

I laughed when I heard my father's muffled reply of "I heard that."

"Anyway, I called for two reasons. First, I heard you won your game yesterday. We're so proud of you, sweetie. I'm sure you did wonderfully as usual."

"Thanks, Mom. It was a good game."

"That's good to hear." And then she dropped the bomb. "Oh, and the second reason was that your father and I and your aunt and uncle are coming to California for Thanksgiving this year. I figured we could use a change of scenery every once in a while."

I was silent for a moment.

Now, I loved my mom and dad dearly, but sometimes they liked to buy first class tickets for the crazy train. These moments in time usually leave them with a plethora of embarrassing stories about me that they like to tell their friends (and sometimes my friends when they're around).

"Oh, okay," I finally said. "Cool. I'm sure Ali and Em would like that too."

"Now, darling, don't be embarrassed," she laughed. I swear my mother could read my mind. "We'll keep ourselves under control, I promise."

I let out a breath. "Okay. I can't wait to see you."

Hey, don't mock me. I'm a momma's boy. Get over it. It comes with the territory of being an only child. If it's a crime to miss my mother, then slap me in some handcuffs and take me away.

"Me too, sweetie," my mother cooed. She paused for a split second before asking, "Now, are you dating anyone?"

Elizabeth Masen, everyone. Subtle as a gun.

I sighed and slumped down into my chair. "No, Mom, I'm not dating anyone."

"Is there anyone who's caught your eye?" she pressed.

Bella immediately popped into my head, but I quickly shook that thought away. If my mother found out that I had even the slightest fluttering in my stomach over a girl, she would go into a frenzy trying to plan our wedding and naming our children.

"Nope, no one," I said.

Mom sighed. "Alright, dear, if you're sure."

"I'm sure," I said, trying to sound as adamant as possible.

"Alright, well, I guess I'll let you go now. We'll see you soon, darling. I love you."

"Love you, too," I said before saying goodbye and hanging up.

I groaned and let my head fall with a _thunk_ onto my desk. A conversation with my parents always left me a little scatterbrained afterwards.

I sat up after a moment, took a soothing deep breath and turned back to my pre-cal.

~x~X~x~

On Monday everything is back to normal. And by normal I mean, rolling out of bed, making sure I put on a clean uniform and not the one that I threw on the floor last week, heading to breakfast to mainline some coffee, and then trying not to fall asleep in my classes.

Finally, the bell rang for Lit (a class that I usually manage to stay awake in) and I headed into the classroom. I threw my stuff down and then headed to the front of the room to talk to Alice and Jazz.

"Hey, Eddie," Alice chirped. I shot her a look but didn't say anything. She was probably the only one who could get away with calling me that without get some sort of verbal smack down.

"Hey, Ali. Jazz," I greeted them. "Mom called. Did you know that everyone's coming here for Thanksgiving? I thought we were going home."

Alice's face lit up and she had an odd sparkle in her eyes. "Really? Awesome!" She was up to something, but I didn't have it in me to care... yet.

Seth and Jared came over a few minutes later to talk about the game until the bell rang and we all headed back to our seats.

I didn't notice when Bella came in, but there she was, sitting at her desk. She had a slightly devious smile on her face, like she had just done something incredibly evil and underhanded. It really wasn't a stretch when it came to her. I had no doubt that she was a bit of an evil mastermind when she wanted to be.

I sat down at my desk and gave her a sideways glance. She just smiled and turned back to the front of the room.

_Alright..._

Mrs. Young came in and gave us our assignment (an in-class essay. _Woo..._) and told us to begin.

We had been in class for about ten minutes and all you could hear was the scratching of pen across paper until...

_If you want my body and you think I'm sexy_

_Come on, sugar, let me know_

Everyone jumped when the loud music blared through the room. Everyone was looking around for the source of the noise including me... until I realized that it was coming from my bag.

_If you really need me just reach out and touch me_

_Come on, honey, tell me so_

I think all of the blood left my face. That was definitely _not_ my ringtone, but it definitely coming from my bag.

I tried to ignore it, hoping that it would stop before someone realized it was coming from my phone.

_If you want my body and you think I'm sexy_

_Come on, sugar, let me know_

Mrs. Young finally pinpointed where the noise was coming from and I think I nearly died of mortification. She raised a slightly confused eyebrow at me so I quickly reached into my bag and fumbled with my phone until I could shut it off.

_If you really need me just reach out and touch me_

_Come on, honey, tell me-_

"Um, Mr. Masen, I think you know that phones aren't allowed in class," Mrs. Young said, her tone slightly off. I don't think she had ever had this problem before (not the whole phone going off in class thing, that happened all the time. I was talking about the whole phone going off in class with a slightly provocative ringtone).

"Yes, ma'am," I choked out.

The room was quiet for a second and everyone's eyes were on me. And then one of the guys started to snicker and then all of them started to. The girls were giggling stupidly (except for Bella, who snorted).

And just when I thought it couldn't get any worse. "I think you're sexy, Edward," Jessica, one of the girls at the front of the room (and one of Tanya's pack), said, throwing a wink in my direction.

_Oh. My. Fucking. God. Can I just die now and save myself from any further humiliation?_

My face flamed bright red and I sunk down in my seat and covered my face with my hand while the guys in the class just laughed harder.

"Now, that's enough of that," Mrs. Young said, getting everyone to focus back on the task at hand. "You've got twenty-five more minutes to finish."

Everyone quieted down after that, but you could still hear the occasional snicker from the guys in the class. I felt eyes on me all period long. I looked up once and saw almost every girl's eyes on me (except for Alice. She's my cousin, for God's sake), eyeing me hungrily. I looked down quickly and focused on my essay.

I scribbled the last of my essay just as the bell rang and, as fast as I could, I gathered up my belongings and handed my essay to Mrs. Young.

I heard a snicker from next to the door. I looked up to find Bella standing there, the very same devious smile on her face from earlier, only it was much larger this time. She fluttered her fingers at me and then winked before turning and walked out the door.

I clenched my jaw in anger. _She _had done that. She had embarrassed the fuck out of me in front of the entire class.

_Oh, she was so going to get it for that._

Seth came to the front to hand in his essay. He gave me a "what the fuck was that?" look, but I just kept looking at the floor.

As I waited for him, girls giggled as they left, saying things like "bye, sexy" and "I want your body" as they passed. I don't think I've ever been this fucking embarrassed in my life.

Seth finally joined me and we headed towards fourth period. "What was that?" he asked, blunt as always.

"I don't know, but that was not my ringtone. Someone must have changed it," I said, keeping my eyes on the ground. I didn't tell him that I knew Bella did it. I wasn't even sure how she did do it, but that didn't matter anyway. That shit wasn't going to happen again.

We parted ways as he headed towards his class and I walked into mine.

News of my complete mortification spread pretty freaking fast. I got smirks and snickers from the guys and giggles and winks from the girls.

I walked into lunch, my head down, hoping to God that no one said anything to me.

Apparently, I had run out of luck for the day.

I exited the lunch line and was walking to my table when I felt someone grab my ass. I just about jumped out of my freaking skin. I whirled around to find several girls smiling in what they thought might have been a seductive manner. I just felt nauseated.

I whirled back around and nearly ran to my table. "Edward, why don't you come and play with us? We really want you to," one of them called after me while the others cackled. I just walked faster. I avoided any other gropings for now and sat down at the table.

"Man, what's up with the aggressive females today?" Sam asked. "They seem to think you're looking for a little something."

"Eddie boy here had an unfortunate incident with an ill-timed phone call and a prankster during third hour today," Ian informed everyone at the table. _Of course he would know this._

"Apparently, he wanted to get the message across that he was ready for a little action," Seth said, snickering like the fucker he was. I glared at him, but he only laughed louder. _Dick._

"I don't want any action," I grumbled.

_Okay, that was a lie. _I really wanted for some action to happen between Bella and me, but seeing as she was out to get me, I don't think that would be happening anytime soon.

"Riiiight," they all intoned. I just sent them another glare.

All throughout lunch girls walked by our table. They either giggled or tried to flirt (yeah, those got turned away real quick). Some of the bolder ones ran their hands along my shoulders or tried to moved them down my sides.

Thankfully, the guys helped me out and kept the harpies at bay for the most part. I seriously didn't think there were that many determined girls at this school.

When the bell rang signaling the end of lunch, I stood up slowly, looking around for anyone heading my way.

I threw my bag over my shoulder, positioning it over my ass so that I wouldn't have anymore surprise attacks from behind.

I must have looked freakishly paranoid and I will admit that I was. I don't like having this much attention on me, so when they start coming at me in droves, I tend to panic.

I ran into biology and sat down quickly. Girls came up to me and, again, tried to flirt, but I just ignored them. Rude? Yes. Necessary for my sanity? Definitely.

Bella came in later, but didn't say a word to me. That was alright with me. I really didn't have anything to say to her that wouldn't end up in a shouting match.

Class started and everyone's attention shifted for the most part. I still felt people staring at me throughout the entire class though. At least they weren't trying to grope me.

The bell rang and everyone got up to leave. Bella left quickly without having uttered a single word to me.

I was about to leave when I saw a piece of folded paper sitting near my notebook. I hesitantly picked it up, not sure if I wanted to know what was written on it.

I took a chance and opened it up. I think I fucking growled in anger when I saw what was written.

There in Bella's slightly messy but still girlish handwriting was a two word message:

_Bye, sexy._

Today was just not my day.

~x~X~x~

I stormed into the locker room after classes were over and threw my bag into my locker. I changed into my practice gear, fuming the entire time. I just wanted to get out on the field and kick things.

"Dude, why so hostile?" Jasper asked.

I huffed and tried to calm down a bit before I started yelling at people. "I have been violated so many fucking times today," I ground out, cringing as I remember every rub and groping attempt that came my way.

Jasper and the rest of the team looked like they was trying to keep themselves from laughing, so I just let out a resigned sigh. "Just let it out." I glanced around the room. "All of you."

The entire room exploded into laughter, like rolling on the floor laughter. I just waited for them to finish.

Once they started to quiet down, I looked around the room. "Are you all done now?" I asked, arms crossed over my chest, eyebrow raised.

They all snickered, but nodded.

And then Emmett burst into the room, a huge fucking smile on his face. "Hey, sexy, can I have your body?"

The team collapsed into another laughing fit.

_Oh, yeah, she was _definitely _getting it._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Aww, poor Edward, getting too much attention from the girls. Haha. Don't worry, he won't be too traumatized. And we also met Eddie's parental units (kinda). Thanksgiving is bound to be a fun time right?**

**Anyway, reviews make everything better. Even Edward's bruised ego. ;)**

**Until next time,**

**Cat :)**


	10. Ch 9 Who Needs Friends?

_**Let the Games Begin**_

**A/N: Ok, everyone, I'm sorry this took so long to get out. College life is definitely different from high school, so I'm still adjusting. Please bear with me here. I'll try to get chapters out as fast as I can, but they probably won't be on any sort of schedule.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I love them all. They make me want to write more.**

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><p><em>Chapter 9<br>__Who Needs Friends When You Can Have Stalkers?_

_**(BPOV)**_

Now that I think about it, setting a ringtone on Edward's phone that I knew would draw attention to him was probably a bad idea.

You wanna know why?

Well, I'll tell you.

Now, don't get me wrong, this prank was awesome and it got me some good laughs. That is until I started feeling this weird burning in my chest. At first, I didn't understand what was going on.

I thought maybe I was having heartburn or something, but that seemed stupid, so I just shoved that thought out of the way.

I figured out what was causing the burning later that day. I was pushing the food around my plate at lunch, not really feeling up to eating anything. Alice was going on about something to the rest of the group when a not-so-masculine yelp rang out from the other side of the cafeteria.

Everyone started and looked up to find out where the noise had come from. I held in a snort when I saw Edward's face flushed with embarrassment. Some girls were talking to him, their eyes batting madly with slutty smiles on their faces. He said something to them and then scurried off to his table.

I know I shouldn't laugh because I knew that he was uncomfortable with all of the attention that he was getting from the female population of the student body, but seeing the most unflappable person at this school start impersonating a tomato at the mere touch of a female was kind of funny.

I finally lost it and snorted into my hand. Everyone looked at me, but I just smiled at them innocently.

"What's up with Eddie?" Emmett asked as he eyed Edward's table. "He's acting kinda weird."

"Didn't you hear?" Alice asked, leaning towards Emmett and Rose, who hadn't heard the story yet. "Edward's phone went off in Lit today."

Emmett looked confused. "And? That happens all the time. And isn't Edward's ringtone some rock song? It's not that embarrassing."

Alice giggled. "Yeah, but someone changed his ringtone. So here we are in the middle of writing an essay when _Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? _starts playing."

"You mean the song from the cookie commercial?" Em asked.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Yes, Em, the song from the cookie commercial. Anyway, I thought that it was just some douchebag's phone because I mean, come on, who else would have such a narcissistic ringtone. Then I turn around to see who's it was and Edward's face is bright red and he's trying to turn his phone off." She giggled again. "You know that Edward doesn't like to have a lot of attention on him, so that was just horrifying for him."

Rose and Em nodded in agreement. "That's it? Well, worse things have happened to him."

Alice and Jasper shook their heads. "Unfortunately not. It was really quiet in the room and everyone was staring at him, and then to make it worse, Jessica called him sexy in front of the entire class, and you know that's never a good sign," Jasper threw in.

I didn't know about the whole Jessica thing. "Why is that bad?" I asked.

"Because Jessica is basically the second biggest slut here. If Tanya's had you in her grasp before, chances are that Jessica's right behind her waiting to snag any of the mourning morons that are crying over Tanya," Rose said, a look of disgust on her face.

"Oh. Poor guy."

I really don't know if I should feel like a bitch right about now, but I really couldn't bring myself to think that. He started this whole this mess. Payback's the bitch, not me.

"I blame it on genetics," Em said.

"And why is that exactly?" I asked.

"Because, for one, I'm hot stuff. Who wouldn't want this?" he asked, gesturing at his body and flexing. I snorted at him and everyone laughed. "And, secondly, Tanya and her STD squad have gone after almost every guy at this school. Including me and Jazz. Thankfully, we had Rose and Alice to keep them away, but that didn't stop them from trying."

"Tanya was very persistent when it came to Em," Rose said, her nostrils flaring in irritation. And then a wicked smile slid across her face. "But I knew how to take care of her."

"And then when Eddie showed up freshman year and Tanya found out that he was my cousin, she finally gave up on me and tried to sink her claws into him. And when he stopped dating her - well, I wouldn't call it dating per se, but whatever - the STD squad started in on him. So I guess you can see why he's a little skittish when it comes to girls."

_Oh my... okay, now I feel like a bitch. _

It wasn't just attention that made him uncomfortable, it was attention from _girls _that made him uncomfortable. And I basically just taped a sign to his back that read _Do Me._

_Huh... that would be funny..._ No, no, I'm not going to embarrass him anymore... well, not in front of girls anyway. I never said anything about boys. He seemed fine when he was around his friends or his teammates.

The bell rang for the end of lunch and everyone got up to head to class. I glanced over at Edward and I couldn't help but laugh as he nearly ran out of the cafeteria towards class, his messenger bag covering his ass. _Like that would stop one of these sluts._

In bio, I didn't talk to him. I knew that he knew it was me that changed his ringtone, so I knew that if I said anything to him, he probably wouldn't take it too well. That, and I liked to watch him squirm.

And I may have messed with him a little more when I left him the note, but I just couldn't help myself. It was just too much fun to fuck with him.

For the rest of the day, I heard girls talking about Edward. Some of them were actually plotting how they could get Edward to go on a date with them. Some of the more... creative ones were trying to find ways into his room.

_I should probably warn him about that..._

I may or may not have laughed in their faces. From what I heard, very few things could get Edward to change his mind about the whole dating thing.

But as I watched them all talk about him and a few of the bolder ones actually go over to him and talk to him and run their hands all over him, the burning came back. The longer I watched the stronger the burn.

And then I knew what I was feeling.

Jealously. I was jealous that those girls were touching him and talking to him. _I _wanted to be the one touching him and talking to him. _I_ wanted to flirt with him (well, minus the whorish body rubbing, but you know what I mean). I wanted to be with him, but I just couldn't bring myself to tell him that.

So, I guess embarrassing him was the next best thing. I know, it's a totally kindergarten way of thinking, but hey, it got him to talk to me.

I walked back to my room and I threw my stuff down onto my bed. I flopped down onto my bed and stared up at the ceiling.

My phone started buzzing in my bag, so I dug it out and looked at the screen. "Satan's Mistress" (a.k.a. my mother) was flashing across the screen.

I groaned and threw the phone onto the desk, ignoring it completely. I was in a decent mood today. I didn't need her to screw with me and ruin the rest of the day for me.

The phone stopped buzzing and I let out a sigh of relief. And then it started buzzing again.

"Gah!"

I ignored it again. And then it stopped. And started right back up again. _Damn it! That woman couldn't let me have any peace, could she?_

"Yes?" I growled into the phone.

"Don't take that tone with me, young lady," _she _scolded me in that annoyingly snobbish tone that she had mastered at a young age.

"Yes, Mother?" I said, my voice bland. "Can I help you with something?"

"Yes, Isabella, your father and I have booked a flight for you to come back home for the long weekend. We want you to meet some people-" I tuned her out.

When my mother said that she wanted me to meet people, she meant that she wanted me to meet the sons of all of her high society friends. Sons that acted exactly like every other entitled douchebag in the world.

Well, that definitely wasn't going to happen. I already had to deal with the idiots around here. I wasn't going to go back to Seattle to deal with the same douches that I left behind when I came here.

"No," I said, interrupting her.

"Excuse me?" my mother asked, sounding appalled by the fact that I had interrupted her meaningless chatter.

"No, I'm not coming back to Seattle so that you can parade me around in front of all of your friends' sons. You're an idiot if you thought otherwise," I told her, my tone filled with finality.

"Isabella Marie Swan, you will come back to Seattle and you will meet these people. They are going to be the ones that give you the future that you need," she ordered.

..._The future that I need. _What about the future that I want? What if I don't want to live a life of privilege? What if I want to do something with my life other than sit around as some trophy wife?

And you know what? I do want to do something with my life. And meeting a few snobbish frat boy wannabes is not going to change my mind.

"Well, that's just too bad for you, Mother. I don't give a damn about what you want. I'm not coming back to Seattle. And you can't control me," I told her angrily.

She was quiet for a moment. "Isabella, a car will be there next Saturday to pick you up and take you to the airport. You will be on that plane and you will be here for the gala Saturday night."

"Don't hold your breath," I said before hanging up the phone without waiting for a response. I turned my phone off so that she couldn't call me again to rant at me for being "impolite."

I sighed and flopped back down onto my bed. My God, she drove me fucking insane.

And there was definitely no way that I was going to be on that plane next Saturday. She can go to hell for all I care. I wasn't going to be used as a pawn in her high society games anymore.

The rest of the day was used to finish up my homework. After my mother's phone call from hell, I wasn't in the best of moods. Alice noticed when she came back to the room, and thankfully didn't say anything.

The next day, everything seemed normal during breakfast. That is until I saw Edward walk up to Newton and say something to him. Newton gave him an odd look, but got up from his table and they both walked out of the cafeteria.

_What the hell was that about?_

_**(EPOV)**_

So after that horrendous fuck-up of a day, I wasn't exactly in a very forgiving mood. So when I saw Bella the next day at breakfast, I may have snapped a little bit inside.

Just the sight of her made me want to hit something, preferably something Newton-shaped.

What? It's not like I'm going to hurt Bella. I don't hit girls. That's just not right.

But that doesn't mean that I can't mess with her a little bit... or a lot considering the cringe-worthiness of yesterday's stunt.

So when I saw Newton walk into the cafeteria and sit down at his table, I couldn't stop the devious and slightly (alright, very) evil smile from slipping onto my face. I quickly wiped that away before any of the guys saw it. They would have thought that I had finally fallen off my rocker.

I got up and started towards Newton's table.

"Hey, where're you going?" Seth called after me.

"I'll be right back," I called back. As I walked up to Newton's table, his entourage of imbeciles noticed me before Newton did. Their eyes widened in shock and they all started fidgeting as I got closer to the table.

I almost snorted in their faces. You would think that I put a beat down on them on a daily basis with the way they were acting right about now.

I stopped behind Newton and cleared my throat to get his attention. He turned around and he looked shocked to see me there.

"Newton, I need a word," I said before he could say anything.

"What for?" he asked warily. He probably knew that I was up to something because, believe you me, I wouldn't be talking to him without some sort of reason.

"I'll explain," I told him. I motioned towards the door. "Come on."

Newton hesitantly stood and followed me out the doors of the cafeteria.

"What's going on?" Newton asked as soon as we made it outside and away from the prying eyes of every single person in the cafeteria.

"I wanted to apologize for going off on you a few weeks ago. I shouldn't have done that. I was having a rough day," I said, lying through my teeth the entire time. He completely deserved to be decked, but I'd let him believe that I was remorseful for the sake of my plan.

"Really?" He still seemed wary, but he seemed to believe me.

"Yeah. I wasn't having the best of days and I just sort of snapped. Sorry. We good?" I said, playing it up _big time_.

He hesitated for a second before nodding. "Yeah, man, we're good." _My Lord, he's an idiot. I can't believe he actually bought that line of shit._

"Great," I said. _God, this conversation was getting painful._ "And as a token of my appreciation, I have some information that might be of some use to you."

He seemed intrigued now. "Really? What?"

"Well, I've noticed that you've been trying to get the attention of a certain brunette for a while now. Am I right?"

He nodded, his eyes lighting up at the mere thought of her. "Yeah, Bella." A dirty grin spread across his face. "Damn, she's one hot little firecracker, if you know what I mean." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and I had to keep myself from a) gagging and b) decking him all over again for thinking about Bella like that, but I controlled myself and gave him a slight grin in return to appease him.

"Yeah. Anyway, Bella's like best friends with my cousin, so I overheard some things that they were saying." Lies, all lies.

"Really?" he asked. He seemed unnaturally excited about this. Ugh. He face changed then, his expression turning wary. "But don't you have a thing going with Bella?"

"What? Me and Bella? God, no. In all honesty, I don't think she likes me all that much," I told him.

_Well, I know that she likes me better that she like you, you creepy son of a bitch, considering the fact that she's yet to punch me in the gut multiple times._

"Oh," he said, sighing in relief. "Okay then. You were saying something?"

"Yeah. I overheard Bella say that she's just playing hard to get. She does this with all the guys that she likes."

"Really? She goes all Rambo on every guy that she likes?" he asked, cringing a little as if he was remembering being hit my her. I almost laughed right then.

"Oh, yeah. She likes it rough," I told him. I smirked and he lit up again. _God, this guy really needed to find something else to do with his time other than stalk girls and watch bad porn._

Not that I know what Newton does in his spare time, but he seems the type.

Anyway...

"Wow," he sighed. "So do you think she'll go for me? I mean, guy to guy, what do you think?"

"Oh, yeah. Definitely. You're definitely her type." _Yeah, the type that she kicks in the balls while she laughs in your face._

"Awesome! Thanks for the info, man," he said before turning to head back into the cafeteria, a huge smile on his face. He was probably running off to tell his friends about his "discovery".

I snickered to myself as I made my way back into the cafeteria. I looked over at Bella's table and saw her looking at me suspiciously. I smirked at her and threw her a wink. She scowled at me and I chuckled to myself.

I glanced over at Newton's table and saw him talking to his group and they were staring at him in complete shock. I couldn't stop myself from laughing as I walked back to my table.

I sat back down at my table and then everyone jumped up. "What was that about?"

"Nothing," I said, leaning back into my chair. "Just a little payback."

"Payback?" Seth asked, confused. "For what?" He paused and then his face lit up in realization. "Did you figure out who changed your ringtone?" I nodded. "Who was it?"

I shook my head and smirked. "You'll find out soon."

The bell rang and everyone got up to head to class. I grabbed my stuff and headed to class.

I didn't hear anything about Newton all morning and he didn't make his move during Lit either. I knew he would though. He wasn't exactly the patient type. Thank goodness for me, I actually had a little bit of control, so I was just waiting for him to make his move.

Was it wrong to set this creep on Bella?

Probably, but I really couldn't bring myself to feel _too _bad because, you know, she set the entire female half of the student body on my ass yesterday.

I didn't feel as bad about setting Newton on Bella after I remembered the feeling of getting violated all day long.

I shuddered. That was going to take some serious therapy to get rid of that fuck-up of a memory.

I couldn't hold back the chuckle that slipped through my lips as I saw Newton get up from his table and head towards Bella who was just coming out of the lunch line with her headphones in her ears (and walking right by my table). She obviously wasn't paying attention to her surroundings because she was bobbing her head to whatever she was listening to, her eyes focused on the ground as she walked.

She was passing my table on her way to her table when Newton stepped in front of her. She looked up at the last second and skidded to a stop. She pulled a headphone from her ear and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Can I help you with something?" she asked, her tone full of irritation.

"Yes, you can, baby. You can help me with a little problem I have." He smirked at her in what he probably thought was a seductive manner, but in reality he just looked like a douche. I snorted into my drink, hoping I could hide it. _Little. Ha!_

Bella didn't look amused. "Sorry, I don't think I'm the best possible candidate to help you with your _little_ problem, but I'm sure the cheerleaders over there would be happy to help."

Despite her obvious rejection, Newton just kept right on going. "But, Bella baby, you're the only one with the specific skills that I need."

Her expression slipped back into it's typical unamused state. "I'm sure."

"So, come on, baby. We can go somewhere private and you can help me out," he said, reaching for her arm. I tensed a little. I should have known that he would have tried to touch her. _Damn it, this was a stupid plan! I should have thought of something else._

My worrying was all for naught though because the next thing she said just about made my day. She gave him an obviously fake smile - well, it was fake to everyone with a brain, which ruled Newton out right then and there. "Who needs privacy? We can handle this right here."

Newton looked like all of his Christmases came at once. I didn't even want to know what was going through his pervertedly kinky mind. "Oh, yeah? Who knew you swung that way?"

Her smiled faltered for a second, turning into a grimace of disgust, before she fixed it again. "Oh, definitely," she said.

"Awesome, baby. Let's give it a go then," Newton said excitedly.

Bella smirked at him. "Alright, if you really want to."

Newton nodded excitedly. "Definitely." Newton stepped forward a bit, moving into Bella's personal space.

"Okay then," Bella said, shrugging one shoulder. And then she quickly brought her knee up and connected it with Newton's balls.

He yelped and fell away from her and onto the floor, doubling over in pain. All of the guys in the room who were watching (which happened to be everybody) flinched and instinctively covered their balls.

"Shit, that's gotta hurt," I heard Seth mutter under his breath. I nodded, agreeing with him, even though I was laughing on the inside at the sight of little Bella taking down Newton with one blow.

Bella bent over him as he whimpered and gave him a small smirk. "I hope that helped you with your _little _problem. Just let me know if you need anything else."

And then she turned and walked over to her table where Alice and Rose were laughing their asses off.

I got up and leaned over him and pretended to be sympathetic. "Sorry, man, better luck next time."

He only whimpered a little.

As amusing as I found this entire debacle, I didn't like that Newton kept calling her "baby". _I _called her "baby". She actually looked pleased when I called her that (not that she would ever admit it). When Newton called her that, she looked like she wanted to blow chunks on his shoes and then slug him in the face.

_For some reason, I think she liked me better. Now what reason could that be... Oh, yeah, I'm not a slimy pervert._

And I definitely didn't like the fact that he had essentially propositioned her in the middle of a cafeteria full of teenagers. I knew that he was going to try something, but I didn't realize how big of a pervert he actually was. I mean, come on, he was actually okay with going at it in the cafeteria surrounded by the entire student body. That's just fucked up.

Newton finally pulled himself together enough so that he could crawl out of the cafeteria. Once he was out the door, I couldn't hold in my laughter anymore. I busted out laughing, all of the guys joining me.

"Dude, that was priceless!" Seth laughed.

"Don't I know it," I said, unable to keep the proud smirk off my face.

"Dude? Did you set that up?" Ian asked, shocked. "That's why you were talking to Newton this morning?"

"Yeah, you know. Two birds, one stone," I said, shrugging as I leaned back in my chair.

"Wait. Two birds? Newton and Bella? I can understand Newton, but what did Bella do that caused you to want to set Newton on her?" Seth asked.

I scowled a little. "How about we take a trip down memory lane and revisit yesterday? That little stunt was pulled off by none other than Miss Bella Swan." I scowled a little at the memory.

"Man, as much as I know you're going to hate this, I think you've met your match," Seth said, glancing over at Bella's table. "You realize that when she finds out that you set her up like that - and you know she will - she's gonna get you back."

I smirked then. "Exactly."

_**(BPOV)**_

Alright, that was probably the most disgusting thing I have ever witnessed.

Whoever thought it would be funny to let Newton think that he had any sort of chance with me was out of their fucking mind.

When I got over to my table, Alice and Rose were laughing their asses off. Jasper and Emmett, on the other hand, looked a little scared.

"Bella, that was epic," Rose said after she calmed down a little.

"You are my hero," Alice giggled.

I just shrugged, a smirk on my face. "Thank you, thank you. But seriously, that dude needs to figure out the meaning of personal space. He was all over me." I shuddered. "He got what he deserved."

Emmett and Jasper shuddered a little. "I will never get on your bad side," Jasper vowed. Emmett nodded along with him.

I laughed. "I have no doubt about that."

"But in all seriousness, what the hell was running through his mind then?" Rose asked. "He's been punched enough by you to know that you're not interested."

I rolled my eyes. "You would think so."

My eyes flickered over to where I had left Newton laying and I noticed that he was slowly making his way towards the door. I rolled my eyes at him and my gaze locked onto the table that I had left him by.

Edward's table.

Edward's table that was currently missing an Edward.

"Looking for someone?" a voice whispered into my ear from behind.

I jumped and whipped around to find Edward standing behind me. He smirked down at me. "No," I snapped quickly.

"Oh, my mistake," he said, his tone full of sarcasm. He pulled the empty chair out that just happened to be next to me and sat down, propping his feet up on the table.

I may or may not have drooled a little at the sight of his Chucks. That boy could definitely rock a pair of Chucks, even if he did act like an ass.

"Can we help you with something?" I snarked at him to keep myself from staring at him like a lovesick fool. Which I wasn't. Definitely not.

"Can a guy just come to talk to his friends and family without having some sort of ulterior motive?" he asked, his face the picture of innocence. Which he definitely was not.

"Maybe a normal guy, but let's face it, you're not normal," I snarked.

Edward pulled his feet from the table and covered his heart with his hand, a smile on his face. "Why, thank you, Miss Swan. I'm going to take that as a compliment. I mean, who wants to be normal."

I rolled my eyes at him, crossing my arms over my chest. "Whatever," was my brilliant closing statement.

"Anyway, I just came over here to tell Em and Jazz that practice has been extended today until six," Edward said, his tone business like.

Em and Jazz groaned. "Ugh, why?" Emmett whined, which was kind of funny considering his size.

"Coach wanted to run through some new plays," Edward shrugged.

Jazz and Em grumbled a little bit as Edward got up. "I'll see you guys later. Rose, Alice. Bella." He smirked at me. "It was lovely speaking with you. See you in bio." I huffed and rolled my eyes at him which only earned me a chuckle from him.

He got up and started to walk away, but he turned around abruptly. "Oh, Bella."

I took a deep breath and turned to look at him. "Yes, Edward?"

He smiled innocently (well, as innocently as the spawn of Satan could). "I almost forgot to tell you. Newton wanted me to let you know that he forgives you and he's looking forward to your next chat."

My mouth fell open. Oh, no, he didn't. _Yes, he did._

He was the one that set Newton on me. Of course he was. Only he would.

His ever present smirk grew wider when he saw my look of realization. He was waiting for it, the bastard. He _so _knew what he was doing.

"Have a nice day, Bella," he said with a wave of his hand. Then he turned around and headed towards the cafeteria doors, throwing me a wink over his shoulder.

I turned back towards the table and everyone was staring at me.

Emmett was the first one to break the silence with a snort. "I can't believe he pulled that. I mean, he actually pulled it off."

Jasper snorted. "Em, you know better than to underestimate Edward. He's gotten you a numerous amount of times. Don't you remember the baby powder incident?" Emmett scowled then, remembering the particular incident.

Alice and Rose laughed then. "How could you forget that?" Alice said. She turned to me to explain. "A few years ago, Edward spring loaded Em's toilet seat back home, so that when Em lifted the lid that it would shoot baby powder all over him. Em came down the stairs covered from head to toe in baby powder." Alice and Rose started laughing again.

Emmett grumbled. "That shit wouldn't come off for days."

Once everyone was calm again, Rose turned to me. "Now, I know that you and Edward haven't been getting along, but why is he pulling stuff on you. He usually saves stuff like that for these two over here." She gestured to Em and Jazz, who just shrugged.

I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. "I may or may not have been the one that changed his ringtone yesterday."

All of their jaws dropped. "Are you serious?"

I nodded, giving them an innocent shrug. "He annoyed me. I did something about it."

They all looked in between each other. "You just started a war."

I smirked deviously. "Exactly."

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><p><strong>AN: Alright then. The war has begun. Woot woot! And we heard a little more from Renee (the bitch). Ain't she a blast?**

**Next chapter will be up as soon as possible.**

**Please review!**

**Later,**

**Cat :)**


	11. Ch 10 Newton? Tampons? Dancing? Oh My!

_**Let the Games Begin**_

**A/N: Hey, guys. I'm back. I'm posting this early because you all are awesome and you deserve a quick update after that atrociously long wait that I made you endure. So, here's Chapter 10.**

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><p><em>Chapter 10<br>__Newton? Tampons? Dancing? Oh My!_

_**(BPOV)**_

I was going to fucking kill Edward Masen. I'm talking full on ninja kick to the head sort of deal.

Ever since he told Newton that I was interesting in him, he wouldn't leave me alone. Especially during Lit. He would moon over me, offering me things like pens and paper. Asking if I needed _anything, _if you know what I mean. Constantly asking me out on dates.

And of course, every time he asked, he would get the cold shoulder or the bird. On particularly bad days, he would get a light smack to the back of the head.

And all the while, Edward was watching, that infuriatingly sexy smirk on his face, his emerald eyes alight with mischievous laughter.

If he thought that he was going to get away with that little stunt, then he wasn't as bright as I thought he was.

Now, seeing as I wasn't the most well-behaved child back in Seattle, I knew what I was doing. Pranks and mischief were something that I had mastered at a young age, so this was going to be a piece of cake.

We all knew that Edward wasn't very fond of getting a lot of attention from girls. And I promised myself that I wouldn't make him go through that again.

Or me, for that matter. I didn't like the way it felt when I saw all of those girls rubbing against him like cats that wanted him to pet them. It really pissed me off, so we're going to avoid that for now.

But I never said that I was opposed to having a little fun with him around his guys friends. Let's face it, things like this didn't happen enough to guys like Edward, so I'm sure his friends didn't have enough to tease him with.

So, me being the good samaritan that I am, I'm going to help them out in that department.

**~x~X~x~**

I walked into Lit and sat down in my seat. Edward was already sitting in his seat, his feet propped up on the chair in front of him, his hands linked behind his head.

"Good morning, Bella," he greeted me, his crooked smile firmly in place.

"Edward," I said back, not looking at him.

He dropped his feet from the seat and turned towards me, his arms resting on his knees. "So, you coming to the game today?" he asked nonchalantly.

I froze for a second. At the mention of the game, I remembered what happened at the last game.

The smirking. The intense gazes. The kissing (okay, it was on the cheek, but still). Soccer Edward as an Edward that was in his element and he knew exactly how to work it.

I was about to answer him when I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders. I looked up and saw Newton standing there, his signature sleazy smile on his face.

"Hey, baby," Newton said. He nodded his head towards Edward. "This guy bothering you?"

I looked at him incredulously. "Newton, what the hell have you been smoking lately? Because it is seriously hindering blood flow to your brain. I'm not your "baby" or anything that comes close to it. And no, he's not bothering me, unlike you."

I shoved his arm off of my shoulders and pushed him away. "And quit touching me." I really didn't have enough energy to deal with him today.

I turned back to Edward to find him smirking at me, like he seemed pleased that I had just told Newton off. I really didn't know what to make of it. "Yes, Edward, I'll be at the game. Alice and Rose are making me go. I hope that doesn't bother you," I said as sweetly as possible, hoping that Newton would get the hint that I wasn't interested in him and that he would leave me the hell alone.

This also might have been a bad (or a very good) idea because now Edward was smiling at me. That perfect crooked smile that sent the butterflies in my stomach into a tizzy. _Oh Lord..._ Even when I was angry at him, he still made me act like a lovestruck fangirl.

His eyes flickered to something behind me and I noticed that Newton was still standing there, his arms crossed tightly over his chest and his eyes narrowed in jealousy._ What the hell is wrong with him? _Other than the fact that I just rejected him. Again.

Edward noticed Newton's expression and his smile only grew wider. "Great," he said. "I'll see you there then." He threw me a wink before turning to the front of the classroom, the smile still on his face.

I heard Newton huff indignantly from behind me and stomp off to take his seat. But I couldn't make myself look away from Edward. He was literally driving me crazy. He was angry with me one moment, then he would pull something on me the next, and now he's flirting with me. I really didn't know what to do with him.

I sighed. _Damn teenage hormones._

**~x~X~x~**

After class, Edward was out of his seat before I was. I took my time gathering my things. I wasn't in a hurry.

As I walked out of the class I heard two familiar voices (one more friendly than the other) around the corner from the classroom. I peeked around the corner to find Newton and Edward having an intense conversation.

"I thought you said that there was nothing going on between you and Bella," Newton accused.

Edward shrugged. "I was telling the truth. There's nothing going on with me and Bella."

Newton looked suspicious. "Are you sure? She was all over you today in class. She was giving you gooey-eyed looks through the entire period."

I gasped and pressed my back up against the wall. _Shit! Was he serious?_ Had I actually been doing that? Was my attraction to Edward so obvious that even _Newton_ noticed? God, I hope not. Otherwise, I was in a huge load of shit.

I peeked around the corner again to catch the last part of their conversation. "What?" Edward laughed incredulously. "No, she wasn't. That would have to mean that she actually liked me... which isn't possible... I don't think..." He stopped, his face suddenly very thoughtful. "I've got to go."

Edward turned abruptly away and started walking in my direction, his brow furrowed in thought. I gasped and tried to move out of the way so that he wouldn't see me, but he ended up running right into me.

He was startled out of his thoughts and he let out a little gasp when he saw me. "Bella," he said quickly. "Sorry, I didn't see you standing there." And then he walked quickly away.

I stared after him in shock.

Was he really that shocked by the idea? Had he really not noticed? I guess it was understandable. I had been so hot and cold with him, he was bound to be confused. Hell, _I _was confused. I really didn't know what to do.

I shook my head and saw Newton coming towards me. My eyes widened and I sprinted in the other direction. I wasn't going to deal with that again.

For the rest of the day, Edward didn't even acknowledge me. He seemed so out of it, like he was thinking about something really hard. I really didn't like the feeling of being ignored, especially when he wouldn't stop with the incessant winking and smirking for the past couple of days.

Well, I definitely had a way to get his attention (and get a good laugh in the process).

**~x~X~x~**

The soccer game was right after school today, so Alice, Rose, and I headed straight back to our rooms to change and then head to the field. I made sure to grab my bag of... tricks before we left though.

"Did you notice how quiet Edward was today?" Alice asked.

I looked up at the mention of his name. "Edward? He seemed fine to me," I said, trying to get her to drop the subject.

"Are you sure? He seemed a little off. I hope he's alright for the game."

"I'm sure he's fine, Alice," Rose said, reassuring her.

"Yeah, he'll be fine," I said, thankful that Rose jumped in.

We got to our seats and sat down. Everyone was filling the bleachers quickly, Edward's fangirls squealing all the while.

"Does the squawking ever stop?" I asked, shooting a glare at a girl that just squealed loudly from right behind me.

Rose and Alice shook their heads and rolled their eyes. "No, and it only gets worse. They'll start screaming if his eyes even wander over in this direction," Rose sighed.

"I swear, they're all idiots. Blind idiots, at that," Alice said, rolling her eyes.

"Blind? How?" I asked, confused.

"They can't see how he's never paid any sort of attention of any of them. He never has after the Tanya debacle back during freshman year," she explained. And then her eyes started to glitter mischievously. "That is, until this year."

"What's different about this year?" I asked, trying to keep my tone from sounding too overeager.

Rose and Alice exchanged a look. "You."

"Me? What about me?" They just gave me dumbfounded looks. I sighed. "Fine, I may have pulled a few pranks on him, but what does that have to do with anything? I pull pranks on anyone who deserves it."

"And what exactly did he do that deemed him deserving?" Alice asked, her eyebrow cocked.

I opened my mouth and then closed it again. "He just... he annoyed me and... he's just... too _perfect_."

Alice and Rose laughed. "Bella, he's the farthest thing from perfect."

The crowd roared all of a sudden. I looked up and saw the team running onto the field, Edward bringing up the rear of the line. They all waved to the crowd as they ran by. Edward's eyes locked with mine for the first time since Lit this morning and I sucked in a breath. The corner of his mouth lifted in a slight smile before he ran to the field.

Alice and Rose noticed the exchange and they both smiled. "He _so _likes you."

"What?" I shook my head quickly. "No, he doesn't. And besides, how can you even tell?"

"How can you _not _tell?" Alice asked, her tone full of shock. "You're the first girl that he's shown any sort of interest in in _two years_. He's constantly flirting with you-"

"No, he's not," I interjected.

"Then what do you call all of the winking and waving and smiling? Trust me, he's flirting with you."

I shook my head again in denial. "I just don't see it. I don't even think I'm his type."

They both exchanged a look again, small smiles on their faces. "You'd be surprised. Edward has a very different taste than you might think."

I was about to ask what his type was when a little voice in my head said _Why do you care? You know it can't happen. You're not supposed to let it happen._

Another voice said _But you want to. Come on. You know you want to. He's perfect. He's exactly what you want._

The conflicting parts of my brain were giving a major headache and I really needed a break. I needed something to distract me.

I looked down at my bag and I knew that the contents would definitely distract me. I told Alice and Rose that I had to use the bathroom, grabbed my bag, and headed down the bleachers.

I made sure everyone was watching the game that was now in full swing and then headed towards the boys locker room. I slipped through the door and then got hit with a wave of boy stench. I nearly gagged at the odd mixture of sweat, cologne, and boy. _Good Lord, these boys need to discover this thing called deodorant. And maybe air fresheners. _I took another breath. _Definitely air fresheners._

I looked around the room and finally spotted the locker that I was looking for. Locker number 2. Edward Masen's locker.

I patted my bag to make sure its contents was still there. I heard the bag crinkle and I smiled. This was going to be awesome.

_**(EPOV)**_

It had been a few days since the Newton incident and Bella had yet to do anything to me. She was probably biding her time, waiting for the opportune moment to strike back.

During Lit and Bio, she would just give me an innocent smile or a little wave, never actually doing anything to me. On occasion she would blow me a kiss from across the cafeteria.

I didn't want her to think that she was unnerving me, so I would just wave or wink back, letting her know that I was as cool as a cucumber.

In reality, I was anything but. She was throwing me off. I was constantly looking over my shoulder for something that wasn't there. I was being paranoid and I really didn't like that I was flinching whenever a girl of... loose morals (which meant almost all of the female student body) came near me, thinking that Bella had sent her to do something to me.

As if I wasn't jumpy enough, Newton decided that he and I needed to have a little chat after Lit this morning.

He was still trying to get Bella's attention, but the only thing he's gotten is a cold shoulder and a few more bruises. If I had known that Newton was going to be this persistent, I wouldn't have set him on Bella. One of these days, she's actually going to do some permanent damage to him and it's going to be his fault.

When he pulled me aside after class, he told me that Bella had been looking at me. Like full on gooey-eyed, lovestruck looks. I didn't believe him. I mean, Bella and I only tolerated each other. We couldn't be in the same room for more than five minutes without one of us insulting the other.

So when Newton told me this little tidbit of information, I was a little shellshocked. Bella might actually like me. I really hadn't even imagined it being a possibility until I thought about it.

For one, she had yet to punch me, so I'm going to take that as a good sign. Two, there were times when I would catch her staring at me. She would always look away quickly whenever I caught her, her cheeks tinting the lightest shade of pink. And call this wishful thinking, but this whole prank war thing we've got going seems like something kindergarteners would do if they liked someone.

For the rest of the day, I couldn't bring myself to look at Bella because I knew if I did, then I would do something stupid like ask her out. I knew for a fact that I liked her (even though she annoyed the everliving shit out of me sometimes), but jumping into something the same day that I found out that she might like me back was not a smart idea.

We had a game this afternoon after school. As soon as the last bell rang, I was out of my seat and heading towards the locker room. We were supposed to be changed and ready to start warming up as soon as possible otherwise Coach would have our asses.

The rest of the team started shuffling in and changing. Seth came in and threw his stuff in his locker. He started rambling on about something or other. That was his thing. He rambled, jumping from subject to subject and he expected everyone to keep up with him. I, fortunately, have gotten used to his ramblings and have gotten pretty good at following wherever his mind went.

"Hey, did you notice how clingy Newton's gotten with Bella? I swear, if he doesn't stop soon, he's not going to be able to reproduce when she's done with him. She looked like she was going to cut off his dick during Lit today," Seth rambled.

See, case in point.

"Yeah, I noticed that. I would tell him to fuck off, but it's really just too much fun to watch," I said, chuckling as I remembered Bella's irritated face from earlier this morning. _Good Lord, she was adorable when she was pissed. Kind of like an angry kitten._

Coach came into the locker room then and called us all to attention. "Alright, guys, go warm-up." A round of "yes, sir" and "yes, Coach" filled the room and we all headed onto the field for warm-up.

The stands started the fill up as we warmed up. I scanned the bleachers for Bella but I couldn't find her. I couldn't see Alice or Rose either, so they must not be here yet.

Coach blew the whistle and we all headed back to the locker room. He told us the game plan and we waited for the announcer to announce us before we ran onto the field. I scanned the crowd again and found Bella sitting with Alice and Rose. Her eyes locked with mine and I gave her a small smile before running onto the field.

I couldn't think about her right now. I had a game to concentrate on.

The coin was flipped, the refs blew the whistle, and the game began. We did our thing and ended up winning the game 3-1.

The team cheered along with the crowd as we all headed back into the locker room. I opened my locker so that I could get my clothes when an avalanche of little plastic packets came raining down on top and in front of me. "What the _fuck_?" I yelled, jumping away from whatever was raining down on top of me.

When the pile in front of my locker finally stopped growing, I looked down to figure out what they were.

I (and the rest of the guys around me) jumped even farther away with gasps of horror when we figured out what they were.

Tampons.

"What the hell is this shit?" I asked, looking around the room. Emmett came up and looked down at the pile and then started laughing.

"Those, little cousin, are what we call tampons. Girls stick them up their-"

I cut him off before he went any farther with that comment. "I know what they are, Em. I want to know why there's a year's supply of them in my locker."

"Is someone trying to tell you something, Eddie boy?" Em asked, trying to look sympathetic, but failing miserably. He really looked like he wanted to laugh.

"And what exactly might that be, Em?" I asked, trying to control my temper.

"Well, you _have_ been kind of moody lately..." he trailed off.

I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "So you're saying I'm PMSing? Brilliant, Em. That's wonderful. Thank you."

Emmett just laughed and went to go finish changing.

"Hey, Edward," Jazz said, his voice tight, like he was trying to keep himself from laughing at something. "There's a note."

I turned back to my locker, and, sure enough, there was a note taped to the inside of my locker door.

I ripped it from the door and read it.

_Dear Edward,_

_I hope these help with that little problem you've been having. And try taking some Midol to help regulate the PMS. It helps._

_You played wonderfully today. Congrats on the win._

_Sincerely,_

_B._

_P.S. Guys, seriously, there're these things called deodorant and air freshener. Use them. It smells like something died in here. _

I growled and ripped the note into little pieces and threw it in the trash can. I grabbed an empty trash bag and started throwing all of the tampons into it. I didn't even bother changing. I just tied the bag closed and stormed out of the locker room. I heard the rest of the guys scrambling to watch what I was about to do, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I saw her sitting with Rose and Alice, a smile on her face.

If I wasn't as pissed I was at the moment, I would have said that she was beautiful when she smiled. But right now, I was too pissed to think about it.

I stormed over to where she was sitting and dropped the bag directly in front of her. "I think these belong to you," I ground out.

Bella looked down at the bag innocently. She opened the bag and gasped, a mischievous smile spreading across her face. "That's where they all went. My supply was running kind of low. Thanks for finding them, Edward. That was really sweet of you."

And then, to my (and everyone else's) complete and utter surprise, she leaned over the railing and kissed the corner of my mouth. She leaned back, the smile still on her face, her eyes glittering. I took a deep breath to steady myself. I had had this whole speech planned out, but the feeling of her lips on my skin made all previous thoughts leave my head.

"Uh, you're welcome," I muttered incoherently. I turned back towards the locker room and started walking that way.

"Hey, boys," Bella called to the team. They all looked up at her. "There're these things called air fresheners. Use them. It smells like a shithole in there." And, of course, she says all of this with a smile on her face.

_Good Lord, of all of the girls I could have liked, I pick the one with the mouth of a sailor and a twisted sense of humor._

All of their mouths dropped open (except for Em and Jazz who were used to Bella's oh-so-ladylike language). They had never heard a girl curse before around here. I rolled my eyes at them (after my senses came back, of course) and started pushing them back into the locker room. I turned back to Bella. "We'll work on that. And, Bella?"

"Yes, Edward?" she asked innocently.

"Find someplace else to store your tampons."

I heard all three of them cackling as the door shut behind me.

**~x~X~x~**

Do you know what's worse than finding out that the girl you like has some sort of vendetta against you? Finding out that your etiquette teacher has finally decided that the junior class was ready to begin the "social interaction" unit.

Now most people would be excited about this. Not me. Nope, not at all. Because here at St. Alexander's, social interaction meant one thing:

Dancing.

And I'm not talking about a good old fashioned bump and grind or disco inferno here. I'm talking ballroom dancing. The waltz. The foxtrot. And my personal favorite, the tango.

Note sarcasm.

And as if this whole thing couldn't get any worse, the Nazi has this little tradition. Every year she picks two unfortunate souls to demonstrate for the entire class. And one of them is always the class president.

Guess who the class president is?

You're right. Me. Lovely, isn't it?

On the upside, said class president gets to choose who his or her partner will be.

Once I remembered this small detail, everything just fell into place.

Bella had to pay for that little locker room stunt because that shit wasn't going to fly with me. So what better way to get back at the rebel than to make her conform. This was pure fucking genius.

I knew I wouldn't make a fool of myself. My mom made my father (much to his displeasure) and I take ballroom dancing lessons when I was younger, so I knew what I was doing. It wasn't a skill that I liked to flaunt though. Not exactly the most masculine thing on the planet, now is it?

It was a couple days after the locker room ordeal and everyone was buzzing with excitement about the new unit. That is, everyone but me. They didn't have to demonstrate the damn dances for everyone.

I had really considered skipping today, but I knew that Coach would have my ass if he found out, so I knew that I couldn't.

I had been dreading sixth period all day. But as I knew it inevitably would, it finally rolled around and I trudged to class. I plopped into my seat, dropping my bag at my feet.

Jazz sat down next to me and gave me a questioning look. "What's up with you?"

"You'll find out soon enough," I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest.

The bell rang and everyone quieted down as The Nazi came through the door. She stepped onto the stage and said, "Alright, children, today we'll be beginning the social interaction unit of the class. We will be starting with ballroom dancing." All of the guys groaned and the girls started twittering and giggling. "Today will be a demonstration day. Now, who here is the class president?"

Everyone turned to look in my direction and I, reluctantly, raised my hand. "Ah, Mr. Masen, will you please join me onstage?"

I shot Jazz a look and he shrugged sympathetically at me. I sighed and got up and walked to the front of the auditorium and up onto the stage. I stood as far away from the Nazi as I could without it being too noticeable to her. A few of the students noticed what I was doing and started snickering.

"Now," Mrs. Hugenstein continued. "Mr. Masen, you will be needing a partner of the female variety. I will let you choose your partner."

I felt a small smile slide onto my face. "Yes, ma'am." I turned towards the left side of the auditorium where all of the girls were sitting. Most of them were sitting up straight with their chests sticking out. _Like that was going to influence my decision. _I spotted Bella sitting next to Alice near the rear of the room.

She was looking down, messing with something in her lap, and definitely not paying any sort of attention. Typical Bella. Alice elbowed her and she looked up and her eyes locked with mine. A devious smile spread across my face and her eyes widened and she started shaking her head quickly. I nodded, the smile still in place. I walked off the stage and started walking towards her row. She continued to shake her head, but I just kept walking.

I made it to her row and extended my hand to her, smirk in place. She scowled at me and reluctantly placed her hand in mine. I pulled her from her seat and we walked back to the front of the room. "I really hate you right now," Bella muttered under her breath.

I snickered at her as we climbed the steps to the stage. Mrs. Hugenstein looked Bella up and down and looked downright appalled. I had to admit that Bella's uniform wasn't exactly regulation. She was wearing the skirt and shirt, but the normalcies ended there. Her streaked hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun and the only make-up she had on was some smudged black eyeliner. She was wearing a blue t-shirt with the Superman logo under her button-up. Her socks always entertained me. Today, they were bright blue and black plaid. Her signature black Chucks were adorning her feet.

"Ah, Miss Swan," The Nazi deadpanned. "You'll need to change your shoes."

"Why?" Bella asked. I knew that she knew why. She was just being difficult.

"Because those-" She pointed at the Chucks with disgust. "-are not proper footwear."

"Well, I don't have any 'proper footwear' with me at the moment," Bella quipped with air quotes. I pursed my lips to keep myself from laughing.

Mrs. H pointed at the bin sitting to the left of the stage. "You'll find some in there. Now change."

Bella huffed and headed over to the bin. "You too, Mr. Masen." _Fuck. _Ugh, I hated dress shoes. They hurt like a bitch and made me look like a dork. I dropped that persona back in middle school.

I grumbled under my breath and headed over to the bin with Bella. She scowled at me as she pulled a pair of heels out of the bin and started taking her shoes off. I shrugged at her and found my size and started putting on the shoes.

"I'm not taking my socks off," she grumbled as she shoved her foot into the heel. I could have sworn I heard her muttering something about a "crazy bitch that made her wear deathtraps" under her breath. I may have let a chuckle slip when I heard that.

When we both had on the "proper footwear", I took Bella's hand and helped her back up the steps. She seemed a little unsteady in the heels and I didn't want her to fall.

"Alright, now, do either of you know how to ballroom dance?" Mrs. H asked.

"Yes," I said, my face heating up as I did. Bella was giving me a strange, slightly incredulous look. I heard the girls sigh dreamily behind me. _Dear Lord, what have I gotten myself into?_

"Which dances?"

"Waltz, foxtrot, tango," I said quietly.

Mrs. H actually looked a little impressed. "Very well. And you, Miss Swan?"

Bella crossed her arms over her chest and gave a terse nod. "Yes. Same."

"Wonderful," Mrs. H said before turning to address the class.

"I didn't know you could ballroom dance," I whispered to Bella.

She rolled her eyes at me. "It's not exactly something that I advertise." And then she turned on me. "And you _would _know how."

"And why is that exactly? Do I give off some sort of vibe?" I asked, chuckling.

She threw me a look. "No, you don't give off a vibe, but you can do everything else, so why not ballroom dancing?"

"There are plenty of things that I can't do," I told her, giving her a smile. She snorted and rolled her eyes just as Mrs. H turned around and told us to get into position.

"Now, class, we'll be starting with the basic waltz. Mr. Masen and Miss Swan will be demonstrating."

I took Bella's hand in mine and she placed her other one on my shoulder. I pulled her body closer to me, so that her chest was just barely brushing mine. She gasped softly and stumbled a little in the heels, but I held her upright. This was the closest we had been since our kiss all those weeks ago.

And I really liked it.

"You let me fall in these shoes and you'll be a dead man," Bella hissed at me under her breath.

Even when she threatened me.

"I'll never let you fall," I whispered to her. She shivered slightly and moved a little closer to me.

Mrs. H walked over to the stereo and started it. A slow classical song blared through the speakers.

"Begin," Mrs. H called over the music.

Bella and I began the waltz and I spun her around the stage, keeping her upright at all times, just like I promised. Traditionally, you're supposed to look over your partners shoulder, but I just couldn't bring myself to look away from Bella's eyes. Her eyes were so beautiful. They were a warm chocolate brown and they were constantly glittering with mischief and laughter.

They were glittering now like they were the first night I saw her. And I knew then that I had to have her. Soon. I was calling this war off. I was willing to surrender if I could find a way to make her mine.

When the song ended, Bella and I slowed to a stop. She was breathing a little harder than normal, her sweet breath fanning across my face. She was so close. All I had to do was lean down two inches and I could be kissing her.

But I held myself back. I didn't want to kiss her in front of everyone. Not again anyway. When I kissed her again, it would be just the two of us.

"Very good, Mr. Masen. Miss Swan," Mrs. H said. She turned to address the class about the following dances and off we went again.

For the rest of the period, I twirled, spun, and dipped Bella across the stage. She actually laughed a little when I threw in an extra spin here and there. During our tango, I dipped her at the end and brought her back up, her face inches away from mine and her leg hitched up over my hip.

Let's just say that the tango is now officially my favorite ballroom dance.

When Mrs. H finally let Bella and I take our seats, I brought Bella's hand to my lips and kissed her knuckles softly. She blinked a few times in shock before smiling softly at me and heading back to her seat. Some of the girls were glaring at her, but Bella just ignored them as she walked back to her seat in her socked feet, her Chucks hanging from her fingers. As soon as she sat down, Alice started jabbering away in her ear. Bella rolled her eyes at her friend, but laughed when Alice did.

I walked back to my seat and all of my friends were smirking at me. "Don't say a word." I sent them all looks that told them I was serious.

They all laughed anyway as I sat down. "Who knew you were so light on your feet?" Jazz said, cracking up when I flicked him off.

Seth elbowed me in the ribs and nodded behind us. "Newton looks like he's about to blow a vessel. Apparently, you're encroaching on his territory."

I narrowed my eyes in Newton's direction and saw him glaring at me. Our little semi-truce was definitely over now. "I'm doing no such thing. Bella's not anyone's territory. And if she hears you say something like that, then I know for a fact that you'll have a shiner the next day."

"Ain't that the truth."

The bell finally rang and I got up quickly and headed in Bella's direction. "Bella," I called. She turned around and told Alice to go on ahead of her. Alice nodded and threw me a wink before grabbing onto Jasper's arm and heading off to class. "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure," she said hesitantly. We headed over to the side of the building to get a little bit of privacy. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

I took a deep breath and ran my hand through my hair. "I want to call a truce."

"A truce?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah," I said. "I think this whole prank war thing is making me paranoid and I honestly don't work well with paranoid."

She seemed shocked at first but then she started laughing. "Okay, we'll call a truce for now. We don't want you to have a panic attack or anything."

"No, of course not," I said, smiling down at her.

"That would just be tragic. Then who would all of the girls swoon over?" Bella snickered.

I narrowed my eyes playfully at her. "Ha ha, very funny."

She snickered again. "Come on, twinkletoes, before we're late."

"Hey, now. No name calling," I said, sending her a look.

She just laughed again before heading to class.

**~x~X~x~**

_**(BPOV)**_

Things between Edward and I have been... interesting over the past couple of days, to say the least. Now that we weren't constantly looking over our shoulders for each other, we were a lot calmer around each other.

But some things stayed the same. He smiled at me, the butterflies would return, and I would smile back. He would talk to me on occasion about little things. It was nice and I really liked it. And, because neither of us could really help it, we made snarky comments to each other.

But now it was Saturday, also known as the day that I had to make myself invisible for the next twelve hours. My mother was sending a car to pick me up to take me to the airport so that I could fly back to Seattle for some dumbass party that I didn't give a shit about. She expected me to be there around three so that I could get ready.

Yeah, that shit wasn't about to happen.

I woke up early, got dressed, and I grabbed the bag that I had packed the night before. It had snacks, my iPod, a couple books, my laptop, and a blanket. I left a note for Alice telling her that I would be out for the day and not to expect me back until tonight.

There was a small wooded area towards the back of the campus, so that's where I was headed for the rest of the day.

I poked my head around the corner to make sure no one was around. No one was so I snuck down the back stairs and walked quickly towards my destination. Since it was early Saturday morning, I knew that no one would be around.

I made it to the woods and slowed my pace, humming to myself as I walked around trying to find a good place to settle myself.

I had just spotted a grassy area a little ways in front of me when I heard something coming from my right. It sounded like someone was... singing. I quietly made my way towards the patch of trees that I'd heard it coming from.

I moved through the trees until I came across a brightly lit spot with a few trees clustered together. And hanging from two of the trees was a hammock. And someone was laying in that hammock, singing softly. It sounded like a guy.

I snuck forward and hid behind one of the trees, listening to him. I felt like some sort of lame ass version of a ninja with the way I was sneaking up on this guy, but I really couldn't help myself. This guy's voice was pure silk and it was drawing me in like he was the pied freaking piper.

"_And I don't want the world to see me, cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am_," he sang softly, trailing off here and there.

I moved closer and finally saw a flash of copper hair. I gasped when I saw Edward laying there, his headphones in his ears, eyes closed, hands behind his head.

He hummed softly, completely oblivious to the world around him. He looked completely at ease. I hadn't ever seen him look so calm before.

I didn't realize I was moving forward until I was about a foot away from him. I blanched when I realized what I had been doing and was about to back away so that I wouldn't disturb him when his eyes opened.

He gasped and tried to jump back, but he just ended up falling out of the hammock and onto the ground with a thud. "Jesus fuck, Bella! You scared the everliving shit out of me. What the hell are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same question," I said as I tried, and failed, to contain my laughter.

He gave me a look and pulled himself on the ground. "I asked you first," he grumbled.

I snorted and had some mercy on him. "I'm hiding."

His brow furrowed in confusion. "From what?"

I sighed. "My mother wanted me to come home this weekend for some sort of party."

"A party? That doesn't seem too bad," he said, brushing the grass off of his pants.

"You don't know my mother's definition of a party," I muttered bitterly. I really needed to change the subject. "And why're you out here?"

He shrugged. "I just wanted to get away from all of that." He nodded towards the school. "It's not always my favorite place to be."

I snorted. "Wait, Mr. Popular doesn't want to be surrounded by his admirers?" I asked incredulously.

He shot me a dark look. "Mr. Popular doesn't always want people getting into his business," he said, his tone just as bitter as mine was.

I blinked at him in surprise. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it."

He shrugged, sighing. "It's whatever. I guess it's understandable how you would make that leap."

I smiled tightly at him and then turned to go. "I'll just leave you to it then."

"Bella, wait. You can stay... if you want," he said hesitantly.

I hesitated for a second before turning back to him and giving him a small smile. "Okay, thanks."

He smiled back and busied himself with his iPod. I pulled my blanket out of my bag. "Here, let me help you with that," Edward said. I let him grab one end of the blanket and we laid it on the ground. I gave him a small smile before sitting down. "You can join me if you want," I said as I pulled out one of the books that I had brought along with me.

He smiled softly at me and gave me a nod before he sat down on the blanket, laying down on his back a few feet away from me, one of his headphones in his ear, his eyes closed. I laid on my stomach and opened up my book. Now that we were done with all of the pleasantries, I finally took in what he was wearing. And it definitely wasn't what I was expecting. He was in a ratty black Stones t-shirt and loose fitting black jeans. The only part of him that I was familiar with were his Chucks that were on his feet.

I had only ever seen him in his school and soccer uniforms, so this was a bit of a shock. If this was any indication of what the rest of his wardrobe looked like, then I'll admit that I had misjudged him a little. None of the Mr. Popular's that I had run into in Seattle ever dressed in anything other than name brand clothing. And they wouldn't be caught dead in anything as vintage as Edward's t-shirt.

And as if he wasn't already perfect, now he was leaning towards my brand of perfect. And laid back rocker style clothing was definitely up there on the list.

We were quiet for a little while until Edward started singing softly. He was so immersed in his own little bubble that I don't even think he realized that he was doing it.

I listened for him for a little while because I honestly couldn't stop myself from listening. His speaking voice was velvety and smooth in and of itself, but his singing voice was like melted chocolate. Warm and irresistible.

He stopped for a moment and I couldn't help but say something. "You have a wonderful voice."

His eyes snapped open and his cheeks flushed. "It's alright, I guess," he said, embarrassed.

"No, I mean it. It's really good," I told him adamantly. He shouldn't be embarrassed about something like this.

He smiled softly. "Thanks." His eyes narrowed playfully. "Did you just compliment me?"

I snorted at him. "I guess I did. Don't get used to it. It won't happen often."

He smiled wider, his eyes glittering. "Of course not." He rolled towards me onto his stomach and propped his head up with his arms. "What're you reading?" he asked curiously.

It was my turn to turn pink. God, I haven't blushed this much in my entire life, but put me in close proximity of Edward Masen and I light up like a Christmas tree. I flipped the book closed and showed him the cover. "_Pride and Prejudice_. It's one of my favorites."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really? You don't strike me as the romantic type."

_If he only knew... _I played it off as a joke. "It's not something that I like to advertise," I said, smirking.

He snorted out a laugh. "Understandable. It would tarnish your reputation of bad girl."

"Exactly," I said, laughing with him.

He was quiet for a second before he looked me directly in the eye, a determined look on his face.

"You like me. I know you do," he told me all of a sudden, his tone matter-of-fact. I blinked in shock, my mouth opening and closing as I tried to come up with something to say. He brought his hand up and touched a finger to my lips to keep me from saying anything. "And I like you."

"_Okay_?" I said, though it came out as a question. I was still trying to process what he had just said. _He liked me? And he knew that I liked him? _"How did you come to this conclusion exactly?" I asked timidly.

He sat up and grabbed my hand, pulling me up with him. He didn't let go of my hand as he spoke. "Well, I knew from the first time I saw you in the cafeteria before the party that you weren't like all of the other girls here. There was something about how you held yourself and-" He laughed a little. "And how you wouldn't take shit from anyone, especially bitches like Tanya. The way you told her off was brilliant, by the way. No one had ever done that before."

"You saw that?" I asked, slightly horrified. I definitely wasn't at my best there.

"Bella, I think everyone saw that," he said, chuckling gently. "But it was just another thing that made me like you even more."

He paused for a second, taking a deep breath. "But it was when you kissed me at the party that I knew that I had to find a way to be with you. You literally took my breath away. I felt like there was ten thousand volts running through my body when you touched me. And you know how I know that you like me too?"

I looked away from him, biting my lip nervously. "How?" I asked quietly.

"Because I know that you felt it too. And I've thought about it. I've seen you looking at me the same way that I look at you. I know you felt it, you _still _feel it. Right now-" he said, placing a finger under my chin and bringing my face up so that I had no choice but to look him in the eye. "-when we look at each other. It's there and it's not going away anytime soon."

I swallowed thickly. He was right, of course. I did feel it. I felt it every time he looked at me, or smiled at me, or touched me.

But that little voice in the back of my head kept telling me that I shouldn't do it. That I would only be doing what my parents wanted me to do.

Fall for the perfect boy.

But from what I've seen today just in this short amount of time that we've been alone together that Edward wasn't just the golden child that as he seemed to be in everyone else's eyes. He was much more than that. He had his friends that knew him as the prankster and captain. The student body that thought he was the class president and hottest guy in school. The faculty that thought of him as the straight A student.

Sure, he was all of that, but who knew him as the sweet guy that was sitting in front of me that was too modest to admit that he could sing like an angel and would rather hide out in a forest than be surrounded by hundreds of people? Or the guy that could make me blush at the drop of a hat when nothing else could and make me smile at the simplest of things?

Not many, I'm sure.

I looked back up into his eyes and saw them shining with sincerity. I knew he wasn't making this up. You couldn't fake something like this.

And that fact made that little voice shut its mouth right then and there.

"Go on a date with me?" he whispered, stroking my cheek with his fingertips.

I smiled softly up at him and his eyes lit up. "Okay."

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><p><strong>AN: Isn't he the sweetest thing **_**ever**_**? Good Lord, I think I swooned a little when I was writing this last part. And I even cried a little for him when Bella was taking about how nobody knew the real Edward. I'm just an emotional mess today. **

**And they're finally going on a date! Woot woot!**

**Good Lord, this chapter was freakishly long. I guess I'm making up for that freakishly long time gap between updates. Oh well, I hope you enjoyed it.**

**And I wanted to let you all know that **_**Let the Games Begin **_**has been recommended for The Lemonade Stand's Fic of the Week, so thank you to all of you who recommended my story. It's an honor. The poll is still open for one more day, so go vote for **_**Let the Games Begin **_**at www . tehlemonadestand . blogspot . com (just remove the spaces). **

**Anyway, until next time.**

**Cat :)**


	12. Ch 11 Who Would Have Thunk It?

**_Let the Games Begin_**

**A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for the wait, but this chapter really got away from me. I couldn't get it to end. But here it is. Enjoy.**

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><p><em>Chapter 11<br>__Who Would Have Thunk It?_

**_(EPOV)_**

If someone had told me that Bella Swan and I were going on a date at the beginning of this week, I would have laughed in their face. Because if I recall correctly, at the beginning of the week, Bella was storing tampons in my locker.

Yeah, that wasn't going to happen again, by the way.

But now we were laying on our sides in the middle of the woods, talking about anything and everything and looking into each others' eyes.

I know, sappy, right? But I couldn't bring myself to give a shit.

"You know, everyone's been wondering why you showed up here for junior year? We normally don't get upperclassmen transfers," I asked, curious. It's true. Everyone was shocked to find out that we were getting a new student at the beginning of the year.

She snorted, rolling her eyes bitterly. "Apparently I was too much trouble for my parents to deal with." She laughed humorlessly. "I'll admit that I wasn't the most... well-behaved child back in Seattle, but that was because they were trying to force me to be something that I wasn't. They didn't like how I was behaving, so they decided that this place would 'fix' me." She snorted again. "A lot of good it's done, right?"

I didn't like how bitter she sounded about coming here. Someone like Bella - a brilliant, beautiful, exceptional girl - shouldn't sound like someone who had been hurt over and over again. She should be smiling and laughing and kicking people's asses (because you know, she does that kind of thing).

I was about to ask her something else when she piped up, changing the subject quickly. "What about you? Why'd you come here?"

She obviously didn't want to talk about that anymore, so I didn't push her. "Uh, my parents went here. They really liked it and they let me check it out. I mean, I liked it well enough. Obviously, I'm here."

She smiled softly and looked into my eyes, her eyes dreamy. "Yeah, you're here," she said, her voice almost unbelieving. She brought her hand up hesitantly and gently pushed a piece of hair away from my forehead. My breath hitched when she touched me.

Her eyes widened when she realized what she was doing and tried to pull her hand away, but I grabbed it. I watched her face as I slowly intertwined our fingers together. Her breath was a little louder than normal, but she didn't object.

She took a shaky steadying breath and looked back up at me, a soft smile on her face. "What're your parents like?" she asked, seeming genuinely curious.

_Oh God. She wanted to know about my parents. _"Well," I started hesitantly. "They met here. My dad was a junior and my mom was a sophomore. They're high school sweethearts. My dad had been trying to pull a prank on one of his friends, but my mom walked in before his friend did and ended up covered in baby powder. She told him off and then showed him how to improve his prank and they've been together ever since." I chuckled (and cringed) a little as I recalled how my parents still acted like they're in high school, make-outs and pranks included. "My dad is a lawyer back in Chicago and my mom is a piano teacher. And they're favorite past time is embarrassing the crap out of me. My dad is really sarcastic and laid back and loves a good prank every now and then. And my mom is hilarious and crazy and probably the sweetest person you could ever meet, unless you mess with my dad or me, then she's a total mama bear. She'd be on your ass so fast you wouldn't know you'd been thrown down a manhole until you hit the bottom. And they're both still crazy in love with each other. I can only hope that one day I'll have something even remotely close to what they have together."

Bella smiled and squeezed my hand slightly. "It sounds like you love them a lot," she observed, her voice wistful.

"Yeah, I do. Even if they annoy me to no end and are two steps away from boarding the crazy train," I said, smiling. Bella laughed quietly.

We talked for the rest of the morning, mostly about me. I mean, I asked her questions about her life back in Seattle, but she only gave me severely edited answers before jumping to ask me another question. She obviously didn't want to talk about her home life.

As we spoke, I felt myself shifting towards her. I probably should have kept a little bit of distance between us, but for the life of me, I didn't want to. I _wanted_ to touch her and hold her and kiss her.

_God, kissing her. _That was not something that I needed to be thinking about at this particular moment. It would only drive me crazy considering I was so close to her, but unable to kiss her.

Bella didn't seem to mind the closeness though. In fact, she seemed to be moving with me. Eventually, our bodies were no more than a couple of inches apart.

We talked about music and movies and other random topics. As we did so, Bella's other hand had begun tracing little patterns into my chest with her finger. God, it felt so good. I mean, she was actually touching me and not freaking out or anything. Her fingertips skimmed across my chest and traveled down towards my stomach. I quickly grabbed her hand to keep her away from there.

She looked up at me, her eyebrow cocked in confusion, her eyes glinting wickedly. "Is there something that you need to tell me, Edward?"

"No," I said quickly. This was not something that a lot of people knew about me and I figured Bella was someone who would use it to her advantage.

She smiled up at me. "You sure?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said, nodding.

"Okay," she said, giving up and resting her head back on her arm. I eyed her for a second before letting go of her hand. She went back to tracing designs on my chest.

I was about to ask her another question when her hand shot down to my stomach and started tickling me. "Oh God - Bel - la - St - op!" I gasped out. I squirmed around and laughed loudly before I grabbed her hand again.

Bella laughed loudly. "Who would have thought that Edward Masen was such a spaz?"

I eyed her and pouted a little. "It's not something that I like to advertise because then people like _you_ would try to make me look like an idiot."

She just snorted a little before she leaned up and kissed my cheek quickly. "Don't worry. You don't look like an idiot." She smiled wickedly. "Much."

I scowled at her and she laughed again. I looked down at her and saw her cheeks were tinted pink from all of her laughter. She really took my breath away, as pussy-whipped as that sounded. No matter what she was wearing, no matter if her hair was a wild mess or in a wavy ponytail, whether or not she was angry or smiling, she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen because she was real. She wasn't like any of the other girls down here. She told it how it was and didn't care if you didn't like it. And she did it in a way that threw everyone for a loop.

For the rest of the day, Bella and I talked. Well, I talked and avoided her wandering hands. She just continued to laugh at me every time I twitched. Such a nice girl, right?

Eventually, I just had to grab both of her hands in mine. "Stop that," I said, unable to keep the smile off my face.

Bella just laughed and shook her head, a wicked smile on her face. "It's far too entertaining to stop."

I groaned and laid my head back onto the blanket. "God, I'm going to regret telling you that, aren't I?"

She snorted. "Oh, yeah."

I sighed and chuckled to myself. _She's going to be the death of me. _

I looked up at the sky and saw that it was starting to darken. I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the time. 7:13. I didn't even realize it had gotten so late. Had we really spent the entire day out here together and not try to kill each other?

_Yeah, we did. And you even got a date out of it._

That sounds like a productive day to me.

"It's starting to get dark," I said quietly. I didn't really want to leave, but navigating through these woods in the dark wasn't my idea of fun.

She sighed and sat up. "Yeah, we better head back."

I pulled myself off the ground and held my hand out for her. For a second I thought she was going to ignore it and get up herself (because we all know how wonderful it worked out the last time I tried to help her). But she surprised and smiled shyly (Yeah, _shyly_. That's not something I ever thought I'd say about Bella Swan) at me and placed her small hand in mine. I smiled and pulled her to her feet and helped her gather her things.

"Are you going to get your hammock?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No, I just leave it out here. I come out here a lot," I said, trying to keep the tension out of my voice. Nobody else knew about this spot and I really didn't want anybody _to _find out about it.

She looked at me, her eyes soft. And then she smiled. "Completely understandable. There's no wonder everybody's always falling over you. Hot and smart. You know how to avoid all of the morons and skanks. I commend you for that."

I barked out a laugh. "I do what I can." I gave her a sideways glance and smirked at her. "You think I'm hot?" I asked her slyly.

She started. "I, uh, well..." she stuttered before she gathered herself. I couldn't keep the smile off my face. She was just so adorable.

She turned to face me and looked me in the eye. "Well, you're definitely not lacking in the looks department. But I don't know about hot."

I raised an eyebrow. "Then what, exactly, am I?"

She hummed, pretending to thinking it over. "Maybe pretty? Beautiful? Gorgeous? You've definitely got that pretty boy thing going for you." She smiled mischievously, her eyes glittering wickedly.

"Pretty boy? Really?" I asked. _Pretty? What the fuck? _"Seriously?"

She giggled. Yeah, she actually fucking giggled. _Definitely not something that the Bella Swan I knew would do._

But then she snorted. _Ah, there she was._

"Oh, yeah. Definitely pretty boy," she said, her smile still in place.

I narrowed my eyes at her and she giggle-snorted again. I wasn't mad at her. I mean, come on, she called me gorgeous. She thought I was good-looking and smart and that I could sing. She's complimented me more today than she has the entire time we've known each other. I was going to take it, whether she was teasing me or not.

I took a step towards her and grabbed her hand and pulled her towards me. "Well, every pretty boy deserves a pretty girl, right?" I asked quietly. Her eyes met mine and I noticed that her cheeks had tinted pink.

"I guess so," she said softly, looking down. Her hair fell in front of her face, blocking it from my view. I chuckled softly at her and gently pushed her hair away from her face and behind her ear. I hesitated for a second and leaned down to kiss her forehead softly before I could over think it.

She smiled up at me and I pulled back a little. "You got everything?" I asked, clearing my throat a little.

She nodded and I grabbed her hand and we started walking back towards campus. I glanced over at her and then down at our hands. She hadn't said anything about me holding her hand, so I slowly intertwined our fingers together. For a second I thought she wasn't going to react, but I felt the slightest squeeze on my hand and I tried to reign in the smile that was threatening to spread across my face.

We were quiet as we walked through the woods, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. It was actually really nice. When you were constantly surrounded by people who felt the need to fill the silence with needless chatter, you really start to cherish the moments of silence.

When we reached campus, I could see a few people still milling around. I reluctantly let go of Bella's hand. She glanced over at me and nodded, understanding. If Bella and I actually did start dating, there was going to be an uproar. Not to sound conceited or anything, but I have noticed how the girls react about anything related in some fashion to me, especially my dating life (the nonexistent one until recently). And I've noticed that a few of them (alright, _most _of them) have been kind of hostile towards Bella recently.

But if Bella and I did start dating, I would gladly deal with all of that to be with her, but I wasn't going to tolerate it if they started going off on Bella. That shit wasn't going to happen.

But for any of that stuff to actually occur required Bella and I _to_ _be dating_, which at the moment, we were not. We had a date, but one date didn't define a relationship. I could only hope that that one date will lead to something more.

"Can I walk you back to your dorm?" I asked. She nodded, shrugging her bag farther onto her shoulder.

We walked side by side, our arms just barely brushing each other. The walk was once again quiet, but I didn't mind. We made it to her dorm finally and she stopped and turned towards me when we reached the door.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later," she said, shuffling her feet a little.

"Yeah, later," I said. I hesitated for a moment. "Um, about that thing we discussed earlier?" _Good Lord, I really needed to get ahold of the whole awkward teenager thing. I'm a little too good at it._

"Yeah?"

"How about Friday? If that's alright."

"Yeah, Friday's good," she said, nodding.

"Good," I said, nodding along with her. I glanced around to see if anyone was around. No one was, so I quickly leaned down and kissed her cheek softly.

She stood on her toes quickly and kissed the corner of my mouth before turning and walking towards the door. "Goodnight, PB," she called quietly.

"PB?" I asked, confused.

She was right in front of her door now. She turned and smirked at me. "Pretty boy," she explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled. "Good Lord. Well, goodnight then, pretty girl."

She giggle-snorted again, her nose crinkling adorably, as she rolled her eyes in return. She blew me a kiss and then turned and headed into her building.

I chuckled and then started walking to my dorm. I had missed dinner and I was fucking starving. I'd just grab something from the vending machine.

I made my way across campus and into my dorm, stopping by the vending machine to snag some caffeine and sugar (not that I needed it. I was very much awake after the day I've had) to settle the monster that was my stomach.

I finally made it up to my room and flipped on the light and then shrieked like a little girl when I saw Emmett sprawled out on my bed and Jasper sitting in my desk chair, his feet on my desk. They both busted out laughing. "What the fuck are you two doing in here? Here's a better question. _How _the fuck did you two get in here?" I asked, glaring at them.

After he calmed down, Emmett said, "How and what we're doing here doesn't matter, lil' cuz. What does matter, however, is where you've been all day."

I loved Em and Jazz like the brothers that I never had. And because I thought of them as brothers was one of the reasons why I wasn't exactly all gung-ho to spill my guts to them. Because, like most brothers, they would only use the information to mock me for the rest of eternity. So I gave them the vaguest answer possible. "Around."

Jazz raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Around? Around where?"

"Campus," I said, walking farther into the room and pushing Jazz's feet off the desk so that I could put my iPod away.

"You were hiding again, weren't you?" Emmett accused. I just shrugged noncommittally and threw myself down onto the couch. "One of these days we're going to find out where you disappear to."

I snorted. "If you say so." My entire family had been trying to figure out where my hiding spot was, but they had yet to figure it out. And I definitely wasn't going to tell them. It was my hiding spot for a reason. I used it to hide from _everyone_. Sometimes a guy just needed a break from the insanity of life and I had enough insanity in my life for about ten people. I'm surprised I turned out as normal as I have.

"Fine," Emmett pouted. Yeah, he pouted. It was an odd sight to see my hulk of a cousin pout like a two year old girl, but he did it quite often and it always gave me a laugh. "Don't tell us where you were, but what did you do all day?"

I shrugged again. "Just hung around. Listened to music. Made sweet, sweet love to half the female student body behind the bleachers," I said, keeping my face straight the entire time. _I loved screwing with these two. It was just too easy sometimes._

They gaped at me. "_What_?" they both said (well, shrieked would be a better term).

I shrugged, keeping my tone nonchalant. "Well, I figured since everyone already thinks I'm God's gift to women, I should share some of my talent. Keeping all of this to myself would just be selfish of me."

They were both still imitating goldfish. They were very good at it. "_What_?" _They really needed a new word._

I couldn't take it anymore. I busted out laughing at their faces. "Good - Lord! - You - should see - your faces - right now!" I was laughing so hard I fell off the couch, but I still couldn't stop laughing at them.

I finally calmed myself down enough to get a good look at their faces. They were both staring at me incredulously. "You two are way too gullible for your own good," I said, pulling myself off the floor and back onto the couch. "Did you both honestly think I would do something like that? Are you buying into the rumors now?"

"No," they said indignantly. "You were just really convincing."

I snorted bitterly. "Good to know I can fool you into thinking I'm a total manwhore. I'm sure Mother would be proud."

Yeah, those rumors were yet another reason why I hid out in the middle of the woods. There wasn't anybody to talk about you behind your back when you're by yourself.

And speak of the devil and she shall appear. Or call. Whatever. My phone buzzed on my desk and I got up to answer it. "Mom" flashed across the screen. I sighed and pushed the answer button, pulling out my "I'm perfectly fine, Mommy" voice. "Hello?"

"Hello, darling. How's my baby boy doing?" Mom asked. No matter how old I got, my mother refused to stop calling me that. Even when my friends were around. I think she did it just to embarrass me.

"I'm fine, Mom. Just busy with school stuff," I said, sitting back down on the couch.

"Hi, Aunt Lizzie!" Emmett and Jazz yelled. I scowled at them and shot them a look. They just snickered.

"Oh, how're my little boys? Just put me on speaker," she said. I sighed and put the phone on speaker and set it down on the end table.

"You're on speaker, Mom," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Thank you, darling. Now, how're my little Emmy Bear and Jazzy?" Mom cooed. My mother was _definitely _the only person who could get away with calling them that. And it gave me a good laugh.

Em and Jazz took it like men and sucked it up. Besides my mom always supplied them with so much food when we were home that they couldn't move for days. "I'm freaking excellent," Emmett boosted.

"I'm just fine, ma'am," Jazz said, always the Southern gentleman.

"Well, that's good. Are you two watching out for my baby?" she asked. I groaned and flopped back onto the couch as Em and Jazz snickered.

"Oh, yes, Aunt Lizzie. We're keeping a close eye on him. He's been a good boy so far," Emmett said, grinning mischievously at me.

"Of course he has. He's my little angel," Mom cooed at me. My face flushed bright red and I covered my eyes with my arm. _Angel, my ass. I don't think angels would be thinking about having a romp in the woods with blue-streaked brunettes._

"Mom," I groaned. As much as I loved her, her habit of calling me almost every embarrassing pet name in the book was not helping my current situation.

"Don't "mom" me, young man. I miss my little boy and you never call me enough. Let me have my moment," she scolded me.

I sighed. "Yes, ma'am."

"Now, are you dating anyone?" Every time. She asks me this every time she calls. Why didn't I see this coming?

Emmett and Jazz where in hysterics now. They always got a good laugh in whenever they were around to witness a conversation with my mother.

But when she said "dating" my mind immediately flashed to Bella and I hesitated. My mother literally squealed like a preteen on the other side of the phone. "You are, aren't you? Oh my goodness!" She held the phone away from her and yelled through the house at my father. "Edward! Edward dear!" she called excitedly.

I looked up at Em and Jazz and they had pulled their fish impersonations back out. "What?" I asked, avoiding their eyes.

"You, King of Celibacy, have a date?" Emmett asked keeping his voice down so that my mom wouldn't hear him. "With who?"

I glared at him. "Wonderful nickname, Em. Makes me feel great," I grumbled. I ignored his other question.

Back on the phone, I could hear my father come skidding into the room, probably wondering why my mom was having the mother of all freak-outs. I heard a muffled "fuck" slip from his mouth. He probably ran into the wall in his haste to get to my mom. I snickered in spite of myself. "What is it, Liz?" Dad asked.

"Language, dear. Edward will hear you," Mom scolded. Cue the eye roll. _Oh Mom, if you only knew the horrid words that had come out of my mouth. _I could have sworn I heard Dad snort on the other side of the line. Yeah, Dad had me figured out. I was only Mommy's angel when she was in earshot.

Mom got excited again. "Our baby boy has a girlfriend!" she squealed. I could just about hear my dad rolling his eyes. But he would be smiling because my mom was excited and when my mom was happy, he was happy.

"Oh, really?" he asked, the smirk obvious in his tone.

I rolled my eyes. "She isn't my girlfriend. We haven't even gone on our first date yet."

"Oh." Mom's tone fell a little, but she recovered quickly. "That's no matter. She's be your girlfriend soon enough. She'd be crazy to turn my baby boy down." _If you only knew how many times she _had _turned me down before she finally gave in._

I snorted. "Oh, yeah because we Masen men are so smooth."

Dad laughed. "Hey, I got your mother to marry me. That right there means that we're doing something right."

It was my turn to laugh. "Yeah, Dad because covering the love of your life with baby powder is so romantic."

Dad laughed again. "I'm sticking with what I said before. I got her to marry me."

"It's true, darling," Mom chuckled. It was quiet for a second on the line except for some breathing.

"Mom? Dad? You still there?" I asked warily.

Dad cleared his throat. "Oh, yeah, we're still here, son," he said, his voice rough.

I gagged a little. "Can you two wait until you're _not_ on the phone with your only child before you start getting down and dirty?"

Mom and Dad just laughed at my disgust. This was very typical of them. _Thanks, Mom and Dad, just leave your child scarred for life. He'll be fine with some therapy after a year or twenty._

I just shook my head to clear to disturbing image from my mind. You couldn't put them in the same room without some sort of scarring thought or sight occurring.

"Anyway," Mom continued. "Tell me about this girl. What's her name? Do I know her? What's she like?"

"Slow down, dear," Dad chuckled.

"Well," I took a deep breath and looked around the room. Em and Jazz were literally on the edge of their seats waiting for my answer. _They were going to have a shit fit when they found out. _"Her name is... Bella."

Em and Jazz's eyes widened so far that I thought they were going to fall out. "_No fucking way!_" they both yelled.

"Emmett Carson, Jasper Wyatt, watch your language, young men. Don't make me call your mothers," Mom scolded them.

"Sorry, Aunt Lizzie," they intoned, both of them shutting up at the mere mention of their mothers.

"So, darling, you said her name was Bella? That's a pretty name. What year is she? What're her interests? Is she pretty?" Mom fired off.

"Yes, it's a nice name, Mom. She's a junior. She likes to read and listen to music. She's a bit of a prankster." I cringed a little when I thought about the ringtone and tampon incidents. Yeah, those memories will probably become repressed after a while.

"Let me guess. You've been on the receiving end of a few of those pranks," Dad said, his amusement obvious.

"Yeah," I grumbled. They all laughed. I couldn't be mad at them. I mean, the pranks would have been funny if they had happened to anyone but me.

"I like her already. Anyone who can pull one over on you is good in my book," Dad laughed.

"Thanks, Dad," I grumbled sarcastically.

"Is she pretty? What's she like?" Mom asked again.

Bella's bright smile and glittering eyes flashed through my mind. I couldn't keep the grin off my face. "Yeah, she's pretty. Beautiful, actually. And smart, really smart."

"Aww, Edward dear, did you hear that? She's beautiful. And smart. Our baby's complete smitten," Mom cooed excitedly.

Emmett and Jasper found all of this incredibly amusing for they were snickering like schoolboys on the playground in elementary school. I flicked them both off and they only laughed some more.

"I can see that, Liz," Dad said to her. "She sounds like a lovely girl, son."

"She is, Dad," I sighed.

"Alright, darling, we'll let you go for now, but I want a full report after this date is over," Mom commanded.

You would think she was kidding. She wasn't.

"I'll see what I can do. Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad. Love you both," I said, rolling my eyes at their antics.

"Love you too, angel," Mom said. "Love you, Jazzy. Love you, Emmy Bear. Both of you call your mothers."

"Yes, ma'am," they both intoned. "Bye, Aunt Lizzie. Bye, Uncle E."

"Bye, boys," Dad said before they hung up.

I pushed the end button and looked up to find Em and Jazz staring at me expectantly. "What?"

"What do you mean 'what'?" Em asked, incredulous. "You have a date with the girl that's been at your throat for the past I don't even know how many weeks and all you can say is 'what'?"

"I don't know what you want to hear. She and I finally got to talk and I asked her out. Turns out we have a lot more in common than most people would believe," I said, shrugging as I laid back down on the couch.

"Okay..." Jazz said, processing what I just said. "So when are you two going out?"

"Friday," I said. I sat up again and looked them both in the eye. "You guys can't say anything about this, alright? Bella and I would actually like to be able to go out before the banshees try to take her out with their hair spray and nail files. Rose and Alice will probably get it out of Bella some how, but don't go spreading this around please."

"No worries, man," Em said. "We've got your back. Besides we were all wondering when you two were finally going to do something about the crazy tension between you both. It was enough to make elephants want to hump like bunnies."

"Shut the fuck up," I grumbled. I chunked a pillow at his head and it hit him square in the nose.

"Hey!" he yelled. "Not cool, man."

"Whatever." I sighed and covered my face with a pillow. "Both of you get the fuck out now."

They both snickered. "So rude, Eddie."

"Get the fuck out, _please_," I said.

"Fine, fine, we're leaving," Jazz said, laughing still.

I heard the door open and close and I sighed. Now that I was by myself, Bella slipped back into my mind. The smile that seemed to permanently etch itself onto my face whenever I thought of her appeared again.

_Friday could not get here fast enough._

**~x~X~x~**

Monday finally rolled around which meant that I got to see Bella again. I got out of bed and out the door faster than I ever had before and headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. I grabbed my requisite cup of coffee and headed to my table where everyone else was already sitting.

"Well, well, look who decided to grace us with his presence," Seth grinned at me. I flicked him off. He just laughed. "Where've you been all weekend?"

"Around," I said. _Hadn't I already had this conversation?_

"Oh, sounds mysterious," he quipped.

I snorted. "Oh, yeah. Very."

I started drinking my coffee and searching the cafeteria for Bella. I found her in the line, grabbing her coffee, her head bobbing to the music of her iPod. She must have felt someone watching her because she looked up, her eyes landing on me. She gave me the slightest of smiles before turning back to getting her coffee fixed.

That kinda, sorta made my day right there.

As the school day started, Bella and I did a pretty good job of controlling ourselves around each other. A small smile here. A little wink there. Until etiquette rolled around.

The Nazi was assigning partners for the dancing unit. People were groaning or squealing as she called out names of partners. She finally got to my name. "Edward Masen and Isabella Swan," she called.

_Cue internal fist pump._

I gathered my things and headed towards the seats that Mrs. H had assigned Bella and I. I placed my bag on the ground and sat down next to Bella.

"Hi," I said quietly.

She bit her lip to keep from laughing at the absurdity of this entire unit. "Hi."

I finally got to get a good look at her and I grinned. She was so adorable I just couldn't stand it. She was wearing a bright green shirt under her button-up. Her blazer was tied around her waist. Her socks were multicolored stripes today with her Chucks adorning her feet. A dozen necklaces were wrapped around her neck. And her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail with a few pieces curling around her face.

Her style was definitely one of a kind. In all honesty, it was actually kind of sexy. Something about how she just threw her outfits together made her seem wild and a little uncontrollable. I really, _really _liked that.

"Alright, children," Mrs. H called, calling us to attention. "These are now your new seats and partners for the rest of the year. Don't complain. Young ladies and gentlemen do not complain. It's unbecoming."

Bella snorted. "This class is unbecoming," she muttered.

I barked out a laugh and then tried to cover it up with a cough when the Nazi snapped her head in our direction. I cleared my throat and pulled out the smile I used for teachers, the one that said "I'm an angel and would never do anything wrong". Yeah, I used that one a lot.

The Nazi eyed me, but didn't say anything. She went on to start her lecture for the day, which happened to be on the history of the waltz. I zoned out for a little while until I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I made sure that Mrs. H wasn't looking in my direction and pulled it out.

**_I know where you were this weekend._**

_What the fuck?_

**_Who is this?_**

I waited impatiently for my phone to buzz again.

**_Think about it._**

The only other person who knew about my spot was... Bella. Duh. God, the caffeine obviously didn't do its job this morning.

**_Bella. Not cool._**

I saw her shaking with silent laughter next to me. **_Good Lord. Slow much?_**

I bumped her shoulder with mine. **_Hush._**

She snickered when she read my reply. She typed hers back quickly. **_Hahaha. :P Are you as bored as I am?_**

**_I don't know. How bored are you?_**

**_I'd rather be hanging out with Tanya._**

I cringed a little. **_Dear Lord. Isn't that a little extreme? Why would you subject yourself to that torture?_**

Bella giggle-snorted. **_Okay, fine. Maybe not Tanya. Maybe you instead?_**

_Was she flirting with me? _I glanced over at her and she smiled a sly smile at me. _Yeah, she was. _

I was about to text her back when Mrs. H called my name. "Mr. Masen, when and where was the waltz first danced?"

_Shit! I knew this. Mom told me once. _"Uh, 1776 in Vienna," I said, though it sounded like a question.

The Nazi eyed me for a second before nodding. "That is correct," she said tersely and then turned back to the class to continue her lecture.

I glanced over at Bella and she was looking at me with an incredulous look on her face. "How the hell did you know that?" she asked me quietly.

I shrugged. "My mom told me once," I whispered back.

"Oh, okay," she whispered back, dropping the subject.

I flicked my eyes around the room, making sure no one was paying us any attention. I dropped my hand to my side and brushed Bella's slightly. She glanced up at me and then looked back to the front of the room, but I felt her hand brush mine back. I snaked my fingers around hers, intertwining them together. She squeezed my hand, but her eyes never left the from of the room, the bored expression on her face never changing. I propped my head up on my arm on the armrest farthest away from Bella, my eyes focused ahead of me.

Throughout the rest of the class, we kept our hands hidden between the seats and under her blazer. I rubbed small circles into the back of her hand with my thumb, and, on occasion, her thumb would brush across my knuckles.

I had never felt this content to just hold a girl's hand before, but I was freaking blissful. Maybe it was because I had never found a girl that could hold my attention for more than five minutes. A girl that I wanted to be able to do the little things with like holding hands and sneaking glances at each other and sneaking little kisses and touches.

The bell finally rang and I reluctantly let go of Bella's hand. "Meet me behind the building," I whispered to her as I bent down to gather my things. Her head twitched in a nod and then headed out the door. I slowed my pace and I leisurely walked out of the auditorium. When no one was looking, I snuck behind the building where Bella was waiting.

"Hey," I said quietly.

"Hey," she said, cocking an eyebrow at me. "What's up?"

"You're not one of those girls that has like a billion rules about dating, are you?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

She gave me a look, crossing her arms over her chest. "You know, insulting the girl that you want to go on a date with is not the best way to go about things. But to answer your question, no. Girls like that annoy me."

"Everyone annoys you," I stated.

She opened her mouth to deny it and then closed it, shrugging nonchalantly. "This is true."

I stuck my hands into my pockets, rocking back and forth on my feet, feeling a little nervous now. "So, say sometime on our date I decide that I want to kiss you, would you mind?" I asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. But on the inside, I was freaking the fuck out like a prepubescent little boy about to have his first kiss.

Her eyes flashed to mine for a second and then dropped to the ground. "I... wouldn't be opposed to it," she said, her tone mirroring mine.

I let out a quiet sigh of relief. "Okay then," I said, glancing around again.

"Okay, what's up with the clandestine meetings?" she asked, her voice agitated now.

I rubbed the back of my neck, slightly embarrassed. "Well, first, I would actually like to make it through at least one date without the whole school knowing about it and that won't happen unless we're careful about how we act around each other for the next few days. And second, I don't really want you to have to deal with all of the girls that would surely go apeshit if they found out that we're together. Not that you couldn't handle them, but still." _Wow, ramble much?_

"We're together?" she asked, a slight smirk on her face.

_Shit. She would catch that. _"Uh, I mean -"

She laughed quietly. "It's okay, Edward. I guess we are, huh?" She snorted. "Who would have guessed?"

_Yeah, who'd have guessed that?_

She took a step closer to me so that she was right in front of me. "And you know what else no one would have guessed?"

"What?" I asked.

She shocked me by taking my face in her hands and pulling me down so that she could kiss my nose. "That you're such a sweetie, thinking about me like that," she said softly, her forehead resting against mine. I smirked at her and snaked my arms around her waist, pulling her closer to me.

She smirked at me then. "And you're right. I could totally take them." She pecked my cheek quickly before slipping out of my arms.

She started walking back towards the front of the building, rounding the corner quickly. She stuck her head back around the corner, a sly smile on her face. "Come along, pretty boy. We're gonna be late."

I just shook my head, laughing softly. "Coming, pretty girl," I said as I ran to catch up with her.

_Friday really couldn't get here fast enough._

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><p><strong>AN: Alright, so I lied. No date this chapter, but it will definitely be in the next chapter. I hope you liked being in Eddie boy's mind for the day. Bella's up next.**

**Review please!**

**Later,**

**Cat :)**


	13. Ch 12 Caution: Fangirling May Occur

**_Let the Games Begin_**

**A/N: I know. I suck. It's been well over a month. I'm trying. I really am. But I was dealing with my first set of college finals and they thoroughly kicked my ass. So I hope you'll forgive me and enjoy this chapter. **

* * *

><p><em>Chapter 12<br>__Caution: Fangirling May Occur_

**_(BPOV)_**

When I left campus Saturday morning, all I wanted to do was get away for the day. But after I found Edward in the woods, everything changed.

God, I never thought that there would be a day when a guy would just want to hold my hand because he wanted to. Back in Seattle that wouldn't have happened. The boys up there only saw me as the daughter of Charles and Renee Swan, the rich girl, the girl who obviously knew nothing. Well, they were wrong. I knew what they wanted. They wanted the money, the title, they wanted me on their arm, but they didn't want _me. _So I changed all of that. I made sure that everyone knew who I was and that I wasn't going to deal with all of that bullshit anymore.

I never thought that I would find a guy that would like me for me as crazy and odd and bitchy as I may be. But Edward did. He saw past all of that. He saw the girl that only wanted someone to like who she was, not _what _she was.

As we talked, he would ask me questions and he seemed genuinely curious, like he wanted to get to know me, the real me. But I only gave him vague answers because as genuine as he may be, I still found it hard to drop the wall that I had built up.

And this made me feel really guilty because he answered every question that I asked him. And he showed me the real him, the boy behind the Mr. Popular persona that everyone had thrown upon him. The boy that didn't mind being alone. The boy that no one else knew, or even tried to get to know.

When the sky started getting dark, he held my hand as we walked through the woods. Nothing had ever felt so good. In fact, I had never felt so good in my life. Edward made me laugh. He made me smile. He made me happy. He made me feel special. Like I wasn't just part of the crowd. Like I wasn't just something to be won.

As we walked back to my dorm, he would glance over at me, a sly smile on his face. He would wink and brush his arm against mine.

And he kissed me.

On the cheek.

Again.

And it drove me up the wall. It took everything I had not to just grab the back of his head and plant one on him.

But Edward was the romantic type. He probably wanted it to be special. _It_ being our first kiss. But technically it wouldn't be our first kiss. It would be our second, but still. Our first _real _kiss.

And I'll admit that I was thinking the same thing. I did want it to be special. But that didn't mean I had to be patient while I waited for it.

Or that I couldn't have a little fun with him.

I learned many things about Edward on Saturday. Like the fact that he had the voice of an angel that could make anything with girl parts weak in the knees. And he was a bit of mama's boy, but it was cute. And that he was extremely ticklish.

That small fact made me giggle like a little girl on a sugar high. He was just so cute when I tickled him. And a little spastic.

I would definitely have to keep this small fact stored away for later occasions.

At the end of the night, he kissed me on the cheek and bid me goodnight in his own oh-so-sweet way and then we parted ways. I made my way up to my room and got the door closed before the dreamy sigh that I had been holding in all day finally slipped out. I rested my forehead against the door, trying to get ahold of myself.

"Have a good day?" a chirpy voice said from behind me. I jumped a little and whirled around to see Alice and Rose coming out of the bathroom. They were both holding nail polish bottles.

I stayed facing the door as I tried to reign in the huge smile that was threatening to take over my face. I took a deep breath and turned to face then. "Yeah. Better than I expected," I said as I made my way over to the bed and throwing my bag on top of my dresser.

"Where'd you go anyway?" Rose asked as she sat down at Alice's desk.

"I just explored a little," I said as I turned to unpack my bag.

Their phones beeped suddenly and then I heard two gasps from behind me. "What? No way!" they both said.

"What?" I asked, curious.

They both stared at me in shock. "Is it true?"

I gave them a confused look. "Is what true?"

"You're going on a date with Edward?" Alice asked, her voice excited.

"I, I don't know what you're talking about," I deflected.

They both just stared at me, hands on hips waiting for me to answer. I sighed, unable to keep anything from them. They were the only friends that I've ever been able to keep (or tolerate) for more than a week and they were always so nice to me, no matter my mood, so I had to tell them.

"Okay, fine," I sighed. "Yeah, we're going on a date." Their faces lit up almost immediately. "_But _you can't tell anyone. I want some privacy, and I'm sure Edward does too."

They both nodded quickly and grabbed my hands and pulled me to the bed and pushed me down. "Tell us everything."

I rolled my eyes at the cliche that I had just been pulled into. Gossiping with the girlfriends. _Kill me now._

I sighed and flopped back on the bed. "I was just wandering around and I found Edward just hanging around. We ended up talking and it turns out that we have a lot more in common than I thought. And then one thing led to another and he asked me out and I said yes. The end."

"That's it?" Alice asked incredulously.

I nodded. "Yep."

I really didn't want to get into this. And I didn't want to rat Edward out. From what I learned today, he really valued his privacy and I wasn't going to be the one to take that away from him. Yeah, I was a bitch, but I wasn't heartless.

And yeah, I kind of like him.

"Come on, Bella," Alice whined. "Details. We need details."

I sighed. "There's not really that many details," I fibbed. "We talked. He held my hand. He asked me out. Then he walked me back to the dorm. That's it."

"He held your hand?" Alice cooed.

"And you let him?" Rose asked, her tone incredulous.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I let him. You know, I'm not a complete bitch all the time."

"We never thought you were a bitch," Alice said. I shot her a look. She giggled and rolled her eyes. "Okay, maybe a few times, but you acted that way for good reasons, so I really didn't care."

"Really, we're just surprised," Rose said.

"Surprised? Why?" I asked, confused, as I sat up.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "We all thought you both would just skip the whole date thing and just jump each other eventually."

My jaw hit the ground. "Are you fucking serious? Do you really think I have no self control whatsoever?"

She leveled me with an incredulous look of her own. "Come on, Bella. You and Edward have been at each other's throats ever since your kiss. If that's not some built up sexual tension, then I don't know what is." And then she shrugged again, her tone falling back into nonchalance. "Besides, the fact that you're going on a date with him shows that you have excellent control. You obviously haven't jumped his ass yet..." She eyed me. "You _haven't_ jumped his ass yet, have you?"

_If only. _I huffed and crossed my arms. "No," I grumbled.

They both laughed at me then. "But you want to, don't you?"

I scowled at them and pulled a pillow over my face. "Yes," I groaned into the pillow.

They both giggled. "Don't worry. I'm pretty sure he wants you to."

I pulled the pillow down so that only my eyes were visible. "Really?" God, I hated how I sounded like one of those insecure teenage girls, but it is what it is. I really like him and I know he said that he liked me, but still. This wasn't easy for me.

They both nodded. "Definitely. Em and Jazz told us that he gets this look in his eye sometimes, like he's completely spaced out. Trust me, Edward isn't one to space out. He's focused on everything he does, so he could only be thinking about one thing."

"And that would be?" I prodded.

"You. You're the only thing on this planet that has ever gotten under his skin. You're the only thing that could possibly distract him enough to get him to act this way."

That made me feel a little better. And it seemed as if I wasn't the only one that was driven to distraction.

All of a sudden my phone rang. I sighed. It could only be one person. My mother.

I ignored it, letting it ring. "Aren't you going to answer that?" Alice asked.

"Nope," I said, popping the "p."

"Okay," she said, giving me the side eye. I ignored it. I didn't want to get into it with my mother and I wasn't about to have a heart-to-heart about my mommy issues either.

"Hey, guys. Thanks for the talk, but I'm really tired. I think I'm going to head to bed," I said, getting up from Alice's bed.

"Alright," they said. "We'll see you in the morning."

I nodded and headed into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

**~x~X~x~**

I really can't believe that Edward wants to date me. I mean, come on, the guy is perfect in almost every way. He's sweet and kind. He's funny and has a sense of humor (even if it is a bit twisted). He's freaking brilliant. And as if all of that wasn't enough, he was the most beautiful guy that I had ever seen.

And he wanted me.

All throughout the week, he would find ways to touch me. Brushing his arm against mine in bio. Holding my hand between the seats during etiquette. Walking me to music afterwards.

And over the past week he had taken to calling me "baby" or "pretty girl", or "PG" when we were around other people.

Normally, I wasn't one for pet names. In fact, I hated them. I wasn't a pumpkin or a sweetie or what the fuck ever, but when Edward called me pretty girl or baby, it made me feel really good. Like butterflies attacking my stomach kind of good. Seriously, he made me giddy. I don't get giddy over very many things and I never thought that a guy would ever be one of them.

But Edward was perfect. He was every girl's dream guy, but he wanted me. So he could call me whatever the fuck he wanted.

On a more unpleasant note, the whores - I mean, girls - here aren't as blissed out as I am. True, they don't know about my date with Edward, but it's common knowledge that I'm his partner in almost every class we have together and they aren't taking it well. And as far as they're concerned, we still hate each other. They don't think it's fair that the one girl here that doesn't harbor some sort of unwarranted obsession with him gets to be with him almost all of the time.

And they're letting me know just how they feel about it.

They glare at me. They make snarky comments (well, the brighter ones do. Most of them have a hard time forming a sentence that doesn't have the word "like" every other freaking word.) Some of the more aggressive ones would push me out of the way or bump into me in the hallways or in the cafeteria.

I ignored them all because I knew that if I didn't I would even up with a lifetime of detention and I didn't really want that to happen. In all honesty, I'm surprised that I haven't gotten it yet. Well, then again, I'm not because the only person here that I've hit was Newton and he's too much of a pussy to say anything.

But I had a feeling that these girls would not have any qualms with ratting me out. Because sweet Edward Masen would never want to be with someone who winds up in detention.

Don't make me laugh. Edward told me that he's gotten away with so much shit here that he probably should have been expelled by now.

It's completely understandable too. I mean, come on, look at the guy. He could get away with destroying the entire campus and all he would have to do is smile and sweet talk his way out of expulsion.

Trust me, I know.

I've seen him in action. We were in music (doing more theory. Ugh.) on Wednesday and Edward hadn't shown up yet. About halfway through the class, he came sauntering into the room like he was right on time.

"Mr. Masen, where have you been?" Mr. Sharp asked, hands on hips.

"I apologize for being late, Mr. Sharp. I got held up helping Coach Strickland with something. I assure you that it'll never happen again," Edward said, sounding very heartfelt. I knew he was lying. He had told me that he would be late, but he said nothing about helping the coach. But why wouldn't anyone believe him? He was every teacher's favorite student.

Oh, and to top off his little performance, he flashed his crooked smile, dazzling almost everyone in the room. I swear that smile could get him out of anything.

Mr. Sharp eyed him for a moment before sighing. "Don't worry about it, Mr. Masen. I doubt it will."

"Thank you, Mr. Sharp," Edward said, flashing another smile before heading towards his seat.

See what I mean? He has some sort of mojo, I swear, otherwise he wouldn't get away with half the shit he does.

Anyway, back to my point. These girls are not my biggest fans at the moment.

And the leader of them all?

Tanya Denali.

Yeah, you remember her, right? Tall, strawberry blonde, bitchy, weird uber obsession with Edward? Yeah, that's her.

She's been glaring at me every chance she got. She'd shoot bitchy comments my way every time she walked past me. She even tried to hit me once or twice.

But today was the last fucking straw.

It was Thursday and I was sitting at lunch. I kept trying to sneak glances at Edward whenever I could.

Hey, I'm secure enough in myself to admit that he was the _only _thing on my mind at the moment.

And let me say that he is looking _quite_ handsome today. His hair was perfectly tousled. His clothes looked like they were made just for him and hugged his body in all the right places. His eyes glittered with a little more deviousness than normal, which only made him sexier in my eyes.

But then someone stepped in my eye line, effectively cutting off my view of my sorta-almost-maybe boyfriend. And that, in my opinion, was not cool.

I looked up to find the queen bitch herself glaring down at me.

"Isabella," she sneered at me.

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "Tanya. Or should I call you Satan's mistress? Everyone else does," I drawled, leaning back in my chair, smiling cheekily at her.

She fumed and glared down at me. I rolled my eyes. I'd seen all of this before. It wasn't anything new. "You seriously need to back off."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, my tone giving away nothing.

"Don't try to pull that. I saw the way you were looking at him. He doesn't want you. He has me," she sneered at me. "So, once again, back off and keep your slutty hands off of him."

My eyes snapped back up to her face and I glared at her. Now, let me tell you, I perfected my bitch glare at the tender age of five and I've had quite a few years to hone it even more. So Tanya got everything I had because I wasn't going to deal with this shit.

I kept my glare on my face and my voice eerily calm. "I'm the slut? Really? How many guys have you let dip their wick in you, hmm? Ten, twenty, most of the male student body? I know it couldn't have been all of them because I know _at least_ a few of them have some sort of sense. And I'm not the one who walks around with my skirt up my ass or my boobs falling out of my shirt. You, on the other hand, _radiate _slut, whore, skank. Whatever you want to call it. And the only reason any of them like you is because they know that you're an easy lay. And really you can't blame them. I mean, boys will be boys after all."

I flicked my eyes around the cafeteria and I was met with quite a few ashamed looks.

"That is not true!" Tanya screeched, stomping her foot. _Really, she stomped her foot? When did we land on a bad sitcom set?_

I snorted. "Oh, but it is. Do you see anyone jumping to protect your virtue?" The entire cafeteria was silent. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Tanya's face was bright red with rage now. She screeched again and whipped around. "Eddie, do something!" she demanded. "Tell her that it isn't true!"

Edward looked at her like she just told him that they were going to move to the country and raise tiny ginger babies together on a farm. A.K.A. absolutely terrified and shocked. And then the devious/ slightly evil look that I had grown to love crossed his face. "But Tanya, that would be a lie. And you know that I'd never lie," he said, his voice even, but his eyes were glittering. _Oh baby, you're really laying it on thick._

"But, Eddie-"

"And I know for a fact that I've told you at least a million times to not call me that," he snapped, his face hardening. _Oh, angry Edward equals sexy Edward. Note to self, have Tanya piss him off more._

"See, even your "boyfriend" agrees with me. That's gotta mean something, right?" I tsked.

She huffed and turned to leave when I said quietly, "And I would be careful who you start spreading rumors about. I don't think your "boyfriend" will like that very much."

She looked at me in outraged confusion. I smirked at her. Her eyes widened and she glared at me. She knew. She knew that Edward never wanted her and that he had taken a liking to me. She just didn't know the details.

She shrieked wildly when she figured out what I meant and stormed out of the room. "You'll pay for that, bitch!" she yelled.

"Looking forward to it," I called back. The room started buzzing immediately as they all stared at me or the door that Tanya just left through.

"I think I love you," Emmett said, stunned.

I snorted and went back to my food. "I've wanted to do that all year. She deserved it," I said, shrugging it off.

"Definitely," Alice agreed.

I looked up and I caught Edward's eye. He smirked slightly and threw me a wink. I smiled slightly at him and threw him one back. His smile got a little wider before he turned back to his friends.

**~x~X~x~**

I think I'm having a heart attack. Or maybe a panic attack. I'm not really sure, but either way, I wasn't feeling so hot.

Today is Friday. And while most Fridays are good in their own right, this Friday had just a little more going for it.

Tonight was my date with Edward and I was freaking out a little bit. I've never been on a date that wasn't set up by my parents and their friends. I've also never been on a date that I haven't tried to sabotage within the first ten minutes.

But I actually liked this guy and I wanted the date to go well, hence the total freak out.

Earlier he had texted me to tell me to wear something casual and I was actually kind of thrilled by that. I liked casual. Every date that my parents set up had been with some snobby pretentious ass that liked to talk more about himself than to me, and they were always at some high class shithole of a place where the waiters wore tuxes, looked down their noses at you while they poured your insanely expensive glass of water and spoke in fake French accents.

Edward may have been raised with money, but he didn't act like every other spoiled rich douche that I had come across. He was very down to earth about everything. It was one of the reasons I liked him.

Oh, back to the freak out. Edward said that he would be here around six. It was currently 5:51 and I had yet to find something to wear that said "casual, but not hobo."

Alice was sitting on her bed, giggling quietly at my franticness.

"Bella, I'm going against everything I stand for, but for the love of God, calm yourself down. He's not going to care about what you're wearing. You could walk out of here in a sack and he wouldn't care."

I raised an eyebrow at her and she sighed. "Fine, he would probably laugh at you and then tell you that you looked pretty, but whatever. He's not going to care. Just pick something."

I sighed and turned back to my closet, staring at the evil pieces of clothing that had been taunting me for the past two hours.

_Oh, fuck it. _

Alice was right. He wouldn't care what I wore. I'm just being weird and hormonal and teenage angsty.

I grabbed my "Hokey Pokey Anonymous: A Place to Turn Yourself Around" tee shirt (yes, I like my nerd humor), a pair of skinny jeans, a gray zipper hoodie, and my only pair of nice shoes (a pair of silver and dark gray glitter ballet flats). I pulled everything on as quickly as possible without hurting myself because we all know that I would do that to myself. I ran into the bathroom to brush my teeth for the third time today - hey, he said that he was going to try to kiss me tonight. I wasn't going to take any chances here - and make sure my hair wasn't rebelling on my head. Thankfully, it was still in the loose curls that it was in this morning.

There was a knock on the door and I jumped up to get it when I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye. I turned to Alice, a confused look on my face. "What was that?"

She smiled innocently, but her eyes were a completely different story. She shrugged innocently. "Just documenting the moment."

"Seriously, Alice? You're producing physical evidence of my one and only freak out? That's so not cool, man," I said, going over to her bed to take her camera away.

She saw what I was doing and squeaked as she jumped off her bed and ran to the other side of the room. "Alice, give me the camera," I whisper-yelled.

"Nope, this stuff is gold," she giggled before running away from me again. I tried to grab her again, but ended up tripping over one of my Chucks and running into my closet door headfirst. It made a _very_ loud crashing sound. _I guess that's what everyone meant when they said I was hardheaded._

"_Fuck!_" I shouted in pain, holding my forehead. Okay, it didn't hurt that bad, but now I was going to have a huge red spot and possibly a lump on my forehead on my first date with Edward. _Fucking perfect._

Alice, in the mean time, was laughing her ass off and rolling on the floor. "Fuck you, Pixie," I grumbled at her before I started laughing too.

"Alice? Bella? Do I need to call an ambulance?" a concerned (and slightly disturbed) sounding Edward asked from the other side of the door.

I went over to the door and opened it. "No, Edward, you don't need to call an ambulance," I told him, trying to catch my breath.

"Hi," I finally said.

He gave me an amused smile. "Hello." His eyes scanned over my face and his nose scrunched a little when he saw the bright red spot on my forehead. It was fucking adorable.

He stepped a little closer and brushed my hair away from my forehead and bent down to kiss the spot softly.

It's official. He's perfect. And totally swoon worthy.

Another flash came from the inside of the room and Edward looked up in confusion. "Are you taking pictures?" he asked Alice in disbelief, his tone matching mine from earlier.

Alice just laughed at him. "Aunt Lizzie wants pictures. She said that her little boy was growing up and she wants documentation of all of it. And besides, I had to capture that whole teeth-rotting scene."

Edward sighed in defeat before turning to look back at me. His cheeks are kind of pink and it's really freaking cute. _Oh my Lord, he's turning me into a fangirl. _"I'm going to apologize for anything and everything even remotely embarrassing my family does in the future."

"Thank you," I said with a laugh. "Well, I think it's time to go." I grabbed my phone and keys off the desk and then grabbed Edward's hand and pull him towards the door.

Another flash went off behind us. "Have fun," Alice chirped.

I flipped her off and she laughed before closing the door behind her. We walked to the elevator and I pushed the button. I finally had a chance to get a good look at him and I nearly fell over right then and there.

He was wearing dark wash jeans that fit him in all the right places and hung low on his hips. The dark green t-shirt he was wearing brought out the green in his eyes and they shown brightly. The black leather jacket he was wearing just made me want to lick him. And, of course, his Chucks were planted firmly on his feet. His hair was artfully tousled tonight, but not overly so. In fact, it looked like he had tried to flatten it, but gave up after I'm sure were multiple failed attempts.

In essence, he was looking more fuck hot than usual. And I didn't mind one bit.

I still hadn't let go of his hand and he hadn't tried to pull away, so I just left my hand in his. It felt good, _really good_, to just hold his hand.

The elevator finally came and we went down to the first floor. Just before the doors opened, Edward squeezed my hand before letting go. We had to keep appearances at least for tonight.

We walked out the door, jealous and disbelieving eyes following us. As soon as we walked out the door, I froze in my tracks.

"Bella? You okay?" Edward asked, concerned.

"Yeah," I breathed, staring at the car in front of me. I looked up to see Edward standing next to the passenger side door, holding it open. My jaw dropped. "This is your car?" I asked in disbelief and awe.

He nodded. "Yeah, she's pretty, isn't she?" he said, looking fondly over at the car. _Boys and their toys and all that._

"Pretty doesn't even begin to cover it. This is a _'67 Impala_. How in the hell did you get this?"

"It was a birthday present last year," he explained. I raised my eyebrows in shock. _Birthday present? Who gives a sixteen year old boy a fully restored beauty like this? Edward's parents apparently._

"Only child. My parents like to spoil me on occasion," he said nonchalantly. He wasn't gloating about it or anything, just stating fact.

"Well, you sir, are a very lucky man," I said, stepping forward to look closer at the car. It was a glossy black color and there wasn't a single speck of dirt on it. I peeked inside and saw the interior was black leather and looked buttery soft. I think I just died a little.

"I know," he said. I looked up to find him looking at me instead of the car. I flushed slightly. _Was he talking about me? _

He gestured for me to get into the car and I did, sliding carefully into my seat without doing anything embarrassing. He closed the door and got into the driver's seat and started up the car. He pulled out of the parking lot and out onto the road that went into town.

"So where are we going? Or are you going to play man of mystery and surprise me?" I asked, feeling a lot calmer than I thought I would be.

He chuckled. "No, I'll tell you. You don't handle surprises well."

I shrugged, knowing it was true. "I don't like to be kept waiting."

"I know," he said, smiling over at me. "We're going to this place called _Sammy's_. It's this little hole in the wall place, but it's great. They have a live band that plays every Friday, so I figured you'd appreciate it."

I was excited now. I loved live music, no matter what it was. "That sounds awesome," I told him.

His smile grew and he reached over to take my hand in his again, intertwining our fingers. I felt little giddy butterflies flying around in my stomach. _My Lord, he's not helping with the fangirling with all of this._

We were quiet the rest of the way to the restaurant, but it wasn't awkward. It was comfortable and Edward was rubbing small circles into the back of my hand.

A little while later, he pulled into a small parking lot. I looked around to find _Sammy's _and was beyond excited now.

He parked and then got out to walk over to my side of the car and opened my door for me. He offered me his hand and I smiled up at him and placed my hand in his. He helped me out of the car and we headed towards the door.

We walked into the restaurant and up to the hostess stand where a blonde girl was smacking on some gum and flipping through a magazine. _Wow, great work ethic they had around here._

Edward cleared his throat and the girl looked up. She plastered a smile on her face as soon as she saw Edward and stood up straighter, effectively pushing her chest out. _Slut. Apparently Edward has that effect on every female he comes in contact with._ She batted her eyelashes at Edward and looked him up and down, apparently liking what she saw. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, looking obviously uncomfortable. She completely ignored me and it pissed me off. Couldn't she tell that he was with someone and that she was making him uncomfortable? Obviously not.

_Back off, bitch, he's mine. _I had no idea where that came from, but it didn't stop me from stepping closer to Edward's side and leaning into him as I glared at the girl.

Edward looked down at me curiously, but I didn't pull my glare away from the girl. A little smirk graced his lips at my reaction and he let go of my hand to wrap his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. I should have been embarrassed about marking my territory like a dog, but I was too preoccupied with controlling the urge to puncture the bitch's silicone.

"Table for two, please," Edward said, remaining polite as always. Whatever his mother did, she did it right. Most boys would be preening right about now with all the attention or be downright rude, but Edward remained the gentleman that he was raised to be. _Props to you, Mama Masen._

The girl finally looked over at me. She looked surprised to see me there. She looked me up and down, a sneer coming onto her face. I glared right back at her.

The girl turned her eyes away from me and back to Edward. "Of course," she said in a nasally voice. "Right this way." She grabbed two menus and led us to a table near the back of the restaurant. She swayed her hips in what she assumed to be a seductive manner, but I could feel Edward trying to contain his laughter.

She sat us down at a table that was obviously still visible from the hostess stand. Edward cleared his throat softly. "Maybe something a little more private?"

Obviously, the girl was too stupid to even seem bothered by the fact that Edward was blatantly trying to get away from her. She just seemed excited by the fact that he was even speaking to her. She nodded and led us farther into the dining area to a table closer to the back of the room. "How's this?" she asked as she batted her eyelashes up at him.

"Great," he said before walking over to my seat and pulling it out for me, completely ignoring the hostess. I stood there for a second, shock overwhelming me. No one had ever pulled a chair out for me, even at some of those high society snorefests that my parents had dragged me to back in Seattle. He started to look a little nervous, so I snapped myself out of my stupor and sat down. I smiled at him and he seemed to feel better about himself and smiled back before going to sit in his own seat. The hostess huffed beside the table before stomping off.

Once she was gone, I looked back towards Edward. "Does that happen often?" I asked.

He sighed. "Unfortunately, yes, but I usually just ignore them. Some of them are very persistent though." He cringed a little.

"Oh, poor baby," I cooed and reached across the table to grab his hand. "I'll protect you from the evil sluts."

He chuckled softly and intertwined our fingers. I don't know what it is about him, but just holding his hand made me feel giddy. It's probably the way it feels. His hands are warm, but not overly so. There soft too. Not girly soft, but manly soft. And he was always rubbing soft circles into the back of my hand. It just felt _good_, plain and simple.

"Thank you," he said. "I'm sure I'll need it."

I snorted. "If that didn't prove it to you, then nothing will."

He smiled at me and slid his chair over to my side of the table. "Is this okay?" he asked. I nodded and gave him a small smile. He smiled back and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, his thumb rubbing small circles into my arm.

_My Lord, he was just too adorable for his own good. One of these days he's going to get attacked by some rabid fangirl and it'll be nobody's fault but his own. _

He kissed my cheek just as a waitress came over and she smiled kindly at us. She was an older woman, but she seemed nice. I flushed a little when the waitress smiled warmly at us. "Hello, my name is Melissa. What can I get you two to drink tonight?"

Edward answered her. "I'll have a Coke and she'll have..." He looked over at me.

"Dr. Pepper, please," I told her.

Melissa smiled. "I'll be right back with those." She turned and walked away, but I heard her say quietly, "So cute."

"You hear that, pretty girl? We're cute. It's a sign. We're meant to be together," Edward teased.

I snickered. "If you say so."

"I do say so," he whispered against my temple before placing a kiss there. Something I'm learning about Edward is that he's a very affectionate person. If the past thirty minutes or so have been any indication, then I had a feeling that Edward will want to have his hands (and lips) on me as much as possible. Not that I minded...

Oh, God, his lips. My freaking goodness, do I want him to kiss me again. It's basically all I've been thinking about since he asked on Monday. I could just turn around and kiss him right now, but he did actually get the courage to ask me if it was alright, so I'll let him have this one.

Melissa came back with our drinks and took our orders. Once she was gone, I turned back to Edward. "So, we should have one of those first date kind of conversations," I said matter of factly.

He chuckled. "Like what?"

"You know, full name, favorite color, that kind of stuff."

"Okay," he said, shaking his head in amusement.

"You go first," I told him.

Edward laughed and leaned back in his chair. "Alright, if you insist. What's your full name?"

I cringed a little. "Isabella Marie Swan. Your's?"

"Edward Anthony Masen III."

"The third?" _That's a lot of Edwards. I wonder if they're all the same. If they were, that could be very dangerous for the female population._

He nodded, a slight grimace on his face. "Yeah, sounds a bit pretentious, but it is what it is."

I couldn't help but laugh a little at that. "It fits, sort of."

"What do you mean sort of?" he asked.

"I mean, you've got this side of you that's completely rocker-esque, I suppose. But on the other hand, you've got this other side that radiates old English gentleman. It just gives you a little extra something that no one else has, even if it is just part of your name."

He smiled then, seeming pleased with that. "I never thought about that way. Any nicknames?"

I nodded. "Well, _Bella _is my nickname, but that's only because I hate the name Isabella."

"Why?" he asked. "It's a pretty name."

I still shook my head. "Thanks, but be that as it may, it just doesn't fit me. I've always gone by Bella. Only my parents call me Isabella and that's usually because I'm in trouble. Do you have any?"

He shook his head adamantly. "No."

"Really? Not Ed or Eddie or something?" I asked, laughing at his direct answer.

He cringed and shook his head again. "No, and I will be forced to never talk to you again if you call me any of those."

I couldn't help but laugh a little, but I nodded. "Got it. No nicknames."

"Favorite color?" he asked.

"Green," I said, looking into his eyes. They were so gorgeous, those green eyes of his. "Your's?"

"Blue," he said, wrapping one of my blue streaks around his finger. I smiled. "Your turn now."

"Okay," I said. I hummed while I thought of a question. "Long or short hair?"

"Long, definitely. It's so much prettier when its long," he said, brushing a curl behind my ear and away from my face. "You?"

"Longish. I like have something to run my hands through," I said, lifting my hand up to run through his already tousled copper hair. It was just as soft as the last time I felt it.

He groaned softly. _Okay, note to self: Edward likes hands in hair. Remember that._

"Blonde or brunette?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

He chuckled, knowing what I was doing. "Definitely brunette. More specifically, blue and brunette." My cheeks flushed again, but I was too busy smiling like a loon to care. "What about you?"

"Ginger," I said, just to screw with him.

He narrowed his eyes at me. I couldn't hold back the giggle-snort that bubbled up at his expression. "I am _not _a ginger," he pouted.

"Oh, baby, but you are," I told him, trying to control my laughter. "But it's okay. You rock your gingerness very well."

He rolled his eyes and snorted. "If you say so."

Just then Melissa came back with our food. We thanked her and started eating. For the rest of the night, we talked and laughed and listened to the band.

If I had thought Edward was charming while we were at school, it was nothing compared to this Edward. He was so carefree about everything now that he was away from the prying eyes of our classmates. He laughed more openly and he was just as snarky as I was. And the way he was completely enthralled with the music was amazing. I could tell that this was a side of Edward that very few people got to see or even knew about.

Once the band called its quits for the night, Edward paid the bill and we left. I started walking towards the car, but he pulled me back. I looked back at him in confusion.

"Where do you think you're going, pretty girl?" he asked, smiling crookedly.

My brows furrowed in confusion. "The car?"

"We've got one more stop before we're done. Or are you trying to get away from me?" he asked teasingly, but there was a underlying nervousness in his voice. It was really kind of endearing.

I walked back over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. "If I wanted to get away from you, I would probably punch you and then run away and I haven't really had the urge to do either tonight, so I think you're safe."

He laughed. "Well, I'm glad you haven't wanted to punch me." He pulled my hands from behind his back and took one of mine in his. "Come on. It's just up the street."

"Is this one a surprise?" I asked as we walked.

"If you want it to be," he said slyly.

"Fine," I conceded. "I'll be surprised this time."

He chuckled. We walked up the street to wherever we were going.

I gasped when Edward pulled me into an old fashioned ice cream shoppe. I hadn't been in one of these since I was five. "You like ice cream, right?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"Good. Get whatever you want," he said, pushing me ahead of him.

I scanned the rows upon rows of ice cream and nearly died of happiness when I saw the coffee ice cream. _What? I have a problem, I know. Doesn't mean I'm gonna stop enjoying my coffee favored delicacies._

I pointed to the coffee ice cream and Edward snickered before order us each a cone. Coffee for me, Rocky Road for him. I like a man that likes his chocolate.

He paid for the ice cream and he grabbed my hand and led me across the street to the public playground that was across from the shoppe. We sat down in some swings and ate our ice cream. We ate in a comfortable silence, but we kept trying to sneak peeks at each other without getting caught by the other person.

We finished our cones and then we started heading back to the car. We were almost there when Edward stopped in the middle of the street, stopping me with him.

"Edward, what-" I couldn't even get my question out before he pulled me towards him and pressed his lips against mine. I froze in shock. This I had not expected at all.

My eyes were open wide in shock until I sighed softly against his lips, relaxing against him when I realized what was happening. He let go of my hand and brought his hand up to my face to cradle it softly. His other hand was around my waist, pulling me closer. I brought my own hands up and wrapped them around his neck, one of them snaking into the soft hairs at the nape of his neck.

I felt my eyes flutter shut as he kissed me softly. There was no tongue like the last time we kissed, just lips, but this one seemed so much more intoxicating. The electric current that always seemed to be there when we touched was buzzing loudly now.

He pulled away slowly, pressing soft kisses to my lips before pulling away completely. He rested his forehead against mine softly, careful not to put too much pressure on my bump. "Sorry about that," he whispered.

_He remembered. He remembered what we said to each other after our first kiss. _I smiled, stroking his hair softly, before whispering, "Don't be."

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><p><strong>AN: 1, 2, 3. Aaawwwwwww! Aren't they adorable? I think so. Well, I was going to stop right before the kiss, but I decided to be nice and give it to you anyway because of my awful inability to update on time.**

**I hope you enjoyed their date. More later.**

**Outfits on Polyvore. Link on profile.**

**Later,**

**Cat :)**


	14. Ch 13 Awesome: That's All I'm Gonna Say

_**Let the Games Begin**_

**A/N: Once again, I suck. I know. I've been writing this chapter for the past two weeks and I just now got it done. I have no excuses, so I'm not going to give you any. Hope you like the chapter though. And thank you to all that have stuck with me and my slow ass. **

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><p><em>Chapter 13<br>__Fuck Awesome: That's All I'm Gonna Say About That_

_**(EPOV)**_

I think I'm dreaming. I mean, it couldn't be real, right? It was too good to be true.

I looked back over to the passenger seat and realized finally that it wasn't a dream. Bella was sitting in my car as we drove back to campus, a smile on her lips. She looked so happy, the happiest I've ever seen her while she's been here.

All night long, she had been smiling and laughing. And when she smiled, I smiled. She took my breath away. She was so beautiful when she smiled.

We pulled up in front of her dorm and I put the car in park.

"Just for the record," she said. "This is the best date I've ever been on."

I smiled. "I'm glad to have been of service."

She smiled brightly before leaning across the seat and capturing my lips with hers. She kissed me softly before pulling away. "Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome," I whispered back before pulling her lips back to mine.

Most people would only kiss once on a first date. You know, they're just getting to know each other and all that, but come on. I've known Bella for weeks now. I probably know more about her than her parents do from what she's told me about their relationship. And seeing as Bella was... _Bella_, I couldn't get enough of her. All I wanted to do was drag her back to my room and kiss her all day long.

And there was a time during our date when I told myself that I was only going to kiss her once and do everything in the proper order. Date. Kiss goodnight. Leave.

But then she smiled at me and did that cute little lip biting thing that she does and only two words came to mind.

_Fuck it._

I had to kiss her again. She has been the only thing on my mind for the past month since she first showed up here. And I told myself after that first mind blowing kiss of ours that I would make her mine and I intended to do just that.

And as of right now, I was doing a pretty good job if I do say so myself.

She smiled against my lips as she kissed me back. As much as we wanted to kiss all night, we were taking it slow. I didn't want to freak her out by moving too fast, so our kisses were soft and sweet, no tongue like our last encounter. If that had happened again, all bets were off.

She pulled away slowly and bit her lip. "I think I need to head up now," she said sheepishly.

"Yeah, probably," I said, smiling softly. "Can I see you tomorrow?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, just don't call before noon. It won't end well."

I laughed. "Alright. I can accept those terms."

I smiled at her one last time before getting out and walking over to her side of the car and opening the door for her. I offered her my hand to help her out of the car. I leaned down and kissed her cheek softly.

"I'll call you tomorrow," I said.

She nodded and smiled. "Okay. Goodnight, Edward."

"Goodnight, pretty girl," I said. She giggle-snorted at the name and turned to head into her building. I walked back over to my side of the car and got in and waited for Bella to get into her building.

She paused just before she got to the door and turned and walked quickly back to the car. She tapped on my window and I rolled it down, confused.

"One more," was all she said before pressing her lips to mine again. I smiled against her lips and cupped her cheek softly.

Don't judge. This has been building for weeks now. This is a lot more tame than it could have been.

She pulled away and smiled sheepishly at me. "Okay. Now it's goodnight," she said.

I chuckled. "Goodnight, Bella." She smiled and waved before heading it her building. I let out a dreamy sigh and let my head fall back against the headrest. A huge, face-splitting smile spread over my lips. I was giddy. Actually fucking giddy. And let me tell you, I don't do giddy. But here I was, trying to keep myself from doing a happy dance like some lovestruck preteen girl.

_Alright, dude. Go find something to punch to regain your masculinity and your night will be complete. _I took a deep breath and started the car and drove over to the parking deck to park it. I parked and walked back to my dorm, whistling cheerily while I did.

I entered the building and there were still a few people hanging in the common area. They looked at me strangely as I whistled my way towards the elevator. I gave them all a wave and a smirk before heading up to my room.

I unlocked my door and flicked on the light only to find Jasper and Emmett sprawled out over my couch and my bed. I just laughed. I didn't want to ruin my fuck awesome mood right now, so I'm just going to deal with them. "Hey, guys, what's up?" I asked nonchalantly as I shrugged my jacket off and threw it over the back of my chair.

They just gaped at me. _What? Did they expect an explosion every time they broke into my room to wait for me to get back from wherever I was like the stalkers they were? _

No. I think not.

Emmett was the first to snap out of his trance. "Who are you and what have you done with my uptight ass of a cousin?"

I snorted. "It's me, you dick. And I'm just fine because I just had the most fuck awesome date of my life," I said as I fell into my desk chair and let out a somewhat dreamy sigh.

Yeah, I know. I'm acting like a pussy whipped fool, but I didn't give a fuck. Bella was perfect for me and I like to think that she thought of me the same way. I was going to do everything in my power to make sure she was mine for the rest of time.

"Dude," Jasper drawled. "You're so whipped."

I shrugged. "And you guys aren't?" I said smugly.

They both grumbled, but didn't deny it. "So, how was it?" Emmett asked, his patience finally gone.

"It was great. She said that she really liked it," I said.

"Any action?" he asked, leaning forward and seeming oddly curious.

"A kiss or two... or five," I said, the smile from earlier threatening to overtake my face again when I thought about her again.

They let out impressed whistles. "Damn, how'd you get so lucky? Rosie wouldn't even let me kiss her cheek on the first date," Emmett whined.

I shrugged. "I really don't know." I sighed again. "She's just perfect, absolutely perfect." And she really was. She got me like no one else could. She was so beautiful and had this wild side to her that just made me even more crazy about her. And she dropped the badass, "I'll kick your ass if you even look at me wrong" facade that she had mastered whenever she was around me, so I got to see a side of her that no one else knew was even there. That's when I got to see just how freakishly adorable she actually was. Sometimes she would stutter when she was nervous or embarrassed. And she would blush the cutest blush whenever she was embarrassed or flustered. And the way she would smile whenever we talked about something that she enjoyed or whenever she decided that it would be funny to tickle me. The way she giggled and then promptly snorted whenever she was told something funny.

"Wow, dude," Emmett laughed. "You're totally gone for her."

I just shrugged again. So what if I was? She was the perfect girl for me.

"So... have you called Aunt Lizzie yet?" Emmett asked, not bothering to hide his glee about _that_ situation.

I groaned and rolled my eyes. "No, I haven't." I knew that she would call me if I didn't call her soon, so I sighed and dug my phone out of my pocket and sure enough, I had a text from my mother.

_**Hey, baby boy. Call me when you get back from your date! I'll be up all night, so call me as soon as you get back. Love you, darling.**_

I groaned again. The woes of being an only child and a momma's boy.

_Note to self: Make sure Emmett and Jasper (and Bella, now that I think about it) do not ever find that text._

I dialed my mom's number with a sigh and waited for her to pick up. She did after the second ring. _She was probably waiting by the phone._

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mom," I said, trying to holding back my laughter at her overly excited tone.

"Oh, hello, my little man," she said, not bothering to hide her excitement. "Put me on speaker, dear. I can hear Emmy Bear and Jazzy. They'll only bug you until you tell them what we're saying."

I sighed. "Yes, Mother," I said before putting the phone on speaker. "You're on speaker now."

"Okay, now tell me everything. Did she like everything?" she asked.

"Yeah, Mom, she liked it. It was great," I said, unable to keep the smile off of my face.

"Oh, that's wonderful, darling," she cooed. "Tell me all about it."

I groaned. "_Mom_."

"Don't you "mom" me, Edward Anthony. I've been waiting for this for seventeen years, now let me have my fun," she scolded.

I rolled my eyes. This is one of those times when I wished I had another sibling, a sister or something, because then my mother wouldn't be asking about the details of my dating life. But no, I had to go and be an only child. And you know what happens to only children? They become momma's boys or daddy's girls and they can't help but tell their mommy or daddy whatever it is that their asking about, whatever it may be, because they don't want to upset them.

Which is why I'm telling my mother any of this in the first place. I'm a momma's boy. As an only child, it was bound to happen.

I sighed. "Fine, Mom. I picked her up at her room." Then I remembered the situation with the pixie and her camera. "Mom, did you make Alice take pictures of us?"

"Oh, dear, of course not. I just asked her to. I would never make any of my babies do anything. And she was happy to help," she said.

Just... wow. And there you fucking have it, folks. My family, the only ones that could possibly embarrass the fuck out of me without me being angry. _Well, not too angry._

I sighed, letting it go. "Whatever, Mom. Anyway, I picked her up and we went to the Sammy's."

"Oh, that's so cute, angel," she cooed. "I know how you love that place."

"Yeah, Mom. And then I took her to the ice cream shoppe down the street. And then we talked for the rest of the night. Basically," I muttered at the end.

"_Basically_? What else happened?" she asked, the excitement in her voice evident.

I sighed. "I kissed her," I said quickly. I didn't mind telling my mom stuff like this, but talking about kissing or anything of a sexual nature with her was downright awkward.

"You kissed her?" Mom squealed happily. That's right, she squealed like a preteen.

"Yes," I mumbled, my cheeks heating up. _Dear Lord, this conversation needed to end now or Em and Jazz will never let me live it down._

"Oh my goodness, my baby boy is growing up," she cooed excitedly. I groaned a little while Em and Jazz snickered at me. I flicked them off which only made them laugh harder. _Yeah, I was never going to live this down. _"I bet she loved all of that, didn't she?"

"Yeah, she seemed to like it. She said that we could see each other again."

"That's good, sweetheart. Now, is she your girlfriend yet?" she asked.

_Good Lord. _"No, mom, not yet," I said.

She huffed on the other end of the phone. "Well, I'm sure she will be soon enough. No one can turn down my baby boy."

I snorted. "Thanks, Mom."

"Sure thing, sweetie," she laughed. "Now, it's getting late over here, so I'm going to head to bed. Be good. And keep me updated, alright?"

"Yes, Mom," I sighed.

She chuckled softly. "Love you, baby boy." Then she addressed Em and Jazz. "Emmy Bear, Jazzy, you two be good and don't pester Edward too much, alright?"

"Yes, Aunt Lizzie," they both said even though they were both eyeing me. _This wasn't going to be good._

"Alright, boys. I love you all. Goodnight, dears," she said.

"Love you too," I said before hanging up.

We sat in silence before they jumped on me again. "So, when are you going to see Bells again?" Emmett asked.

"I'm gonna call her tomorrow. We'll figure something out then," I said, shrugging nonchalantly.

They both huffed. I looked over at them in confusion. "What's up with you two?"

"You're so freaking lucky, man. Your girl is so laid back about everything. I love Rosie, but my God if she isn't uptight," Emmett whined again. "And she's always trying to cut me off for something."

I cringed. _I did not need that mental image. _

"Yeah, man. I love Alice, I really do, but there's only so much shopping a man can take," he groaned. "And she keeps trying to steal all of the clothes that she doesn't like out of my closet." He pouted a little.

I snickered at both of them. I knew they both loved their girlfriends, but I guess I understood where they were coming from. "Sorry, guys. I don't know what to tell you. Bella's always been like that, even when she was trying to embarrass the fuck out of me," I grumbled the last part.

They both laughed then, forgetting their relationship woes.

"She's pretty laid back about most things," I said, shrugging. And then I snorted, smiling. "And she's got enough attitude to deal with everything else."

They both laughed. "Very true," Jazz said. "Very true."

**~x~X~x~**

The next morning, I got up and glanced quickly at the clock. _11:23_

This was good. I only had a little while before I could call Bella. I wasn't going to call her any earlier than noon. You forget that I've seen Bella during the morning. Trust me when I say that she's not a morning person.

So I rolled out of bed and went to take a shower. I took my time considering the fact that if I rushed then I'd only be pacing the room until the clock hit noon.

I got out of the shower and got dressed. I rubbed a towel over my head to dry my hair. I glared at the the riotous mess that was my hair and attempted to flatten it. People, well, girls mostly, have told me that it looks good on me, like I had just rolled out of bed after being freshly fucked (yeah, people have said those exact words to me).

There were times when I actually got it to lay flat, rare as they be. But then I would totally forget about the hours that it took to get it to stay that way and run my freaking hands through it, completely fucking it up again.

So most of the time I don't even bother with it. I just rubbed the towel over it and I was done.

Unless my mother got a hold of me.

I shuddered at the thought. The last time my mom tried to get my hair to lay flat, my head had gained another pound in weight because of all of the hair gel that she had put in it and my head throbbed for an hour. I felt sorry for my dad. He lived with her all the time.

And why do I feel sorry for him?

Well, where exactly do you think I got this mess from? It definitely wasn't my mother. She may act like she didn't have a care in the world, but she always looked like one of those high class woman, perfectly coiffed wherever she went. It came naturally to her though. There wasn't a day that I could remember my mom looking less than perfect when I was growing up.

My dad, on the other hand... Well, people have told us that we could have been brothers. The only difference was that his hair was dark brown and his eyes were blue. I got my mom's coloring, but other than that, I was my dad's mini-me for the longest time, riotous hair and crooked smile and all.

Most of the time I didn't give a fuck about what I looked like. Hell, people should be happy that I even come out of my room with the proper articles of clothing on the right part of my body, much to my mother's chagrin and my father's amusement.

But I wanted to look good for Bella. I didn't even give a fuck that I sounded like a pussy right now.

But there was nothing I could do about the mess on top of my head at the moment. Maybe she's like it. I'd deal with later. I looked over at the clock again and saw that it said 11:58. I practically ran over to my nightstand to pick up my phone.

_Yeah, yeah, I know. Pussy whipped. I get it._

As soon as the clock hit noon, I dialed Bella's number and waited for her to answer.

It rang for a few times before her sweet, but sleepy, voice filled my ear. "Hello?" she said groggily.

I chuckled softly. "Good afternoon, pretty girl," I said, laying back on my bed.

She groaned softly. "You're lucky you're cute," she grumbled into the phone.

I laughed. "You said not to call before noon, so I respected your wishes. But now it's..." I looked back over at the clock. "12:02, so you're fair game, baby."

She grumbled something incoherently on the other side of the phone. "You're _really _lucky you're cute," she said again. I just laughed again. "But since your here, I might as well keep you for a while."

"I'm good with that," I said. It was amazing that just the sound of her voice made my lips stretch into an unbelievably huge smile.

"Good. I wouldn't have let you go anyway," she said, the smile evident in her voice.

My face was hurting right now, my smile was so big. "You're saying that you would have kept me locked up?"

"Yep. Chained to a bed in the basement as my love slave," she deadpanned. I could hear her rolling her eyes.

I laughed loudly at that. "I'd be alright with the love slave thing. I'm not too sure about the chains though."

She giggled then. _Ah, there's the laugh. _I loved her laugh. It was so freaking adorable that I just wanted to pick her up and put her in my pocket and bring her home with me.

"So, I was wondering if maybe you were free this afternoon?" I asked her, my nervousness sneaking to the front of my mind again.

"Yeah, I'm free," she said. "Why?"

"I thought maybe we could go back to the clearing today and talk or something."

"I'd like that," she said, the smile evident in her voice. I smiled then too. Once again, she smiles, I smile.

"Great, um, when did you want to meet?" I asked.

"How about you give me about thirty minutes to get ready and then I'll meet you there, alright?" she suggested.

"Sounds good to me," I said, excitement slipping into my voice. "I'll see you soon."

"Okay," she giggled. "Bye, Edward."

"Bye, pretty girl," I said before hanging up.

_Alright, dude. Deep breathes. Calm down. You were fine last night. You'll be fine now. Suck it up. And don't fuck this up. You actually like this girl, remember?_

I took a deep breath before finding my Chucks and pulling them on. I grabbed my phone, iPod, wallet, and keys and threw them into my bag and walked out the door.

I headed over to the cafeteria and got in line. I grabbed a couple of bottled drinks (Dr. Pepper for her, Coke for me) and a couple of slices of pizza to go for us. Pepperoni for me (What? I'm a purist.) and cheese for Bella (she told me this during one of our earlier chats). And a couple of candy bars because, I mean, come on, who doesn't like candy?

I got a few odd looks from people as I was walking out the door with two of everything, but I ignored them and kept on walking. I made it look like I was heading back to the dorm, but ducked behind another building when no one was looking and made my way to the clearing.

I had just set everything down when I heard some rustling coming from behind me. I turned around and saw Bella standing at the edge of the clearing, looking just as beautiful and wild as ever. She was wearing short denim shorts and an old Beatles shirt. Her hair was down for once, something that I rarely saw. Her tousled waves fell around her face and shoulders, framing her face beautifully. The only make-up she wore was her normal black eyeliner that made her eyes stand out even more. Her Chucks were on her feet, as per usual.

I smiled brightly at her and she smiled back. I gestured for her to come closer and she moved quickly to my side.

Now that she was in front of me, I just couldn't control myself. I had to touch her, kiss her.

I gently wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her a little closer to me. I leaned down slowly and gently pressed my lips to hers. She sighed and kissed me back, smiling against my lips.

I pulled back slowly and smiled down at her. "Hi," I said softly.

"Hi," she giggled, her voice just as soft as mine.

Our quiet moment was soon interrupted by a rather loud growl that erupted from Bella's stomach. I chuckled softly. "I think someone's hungry."

She shrugged sheepishly. "Maybe just a little."

I laughed and sat down, pulling her down with me. "Good because I brought lunch." I turned around and grabbed the pizza boxes and drinks and her face instantly lit up.

"Oh my freaking God, you are my favorite person on the planet right now," she said excitedly as I offered her the box.

She took it and opened it and smiled. "You remembered," she said so softly that I almost didn't hear her. She looked up at me, a softer look in her eyes than I had ever seen before, and leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to my lips. "Thank you."

I looked at her, confused. I didn't understand why bringing her pizza was such a big deal. "You're welcome," I said. I leaned over a little and brushed a lock of hair away from her face. "Are you okay?" I asked her, concerned.

She nodded. "Yeah, it's just..." she trailed off, biting her lip hesitantly.

"It's okay, Bella. You can tell me anything," I told her, trying to soothe her.

She sighed. "It's just no one's ever done _anything _like this for me. Ever. No one even remembers that I'd rather be called _Bella_ than _Isabella_, much less my favorite type of pizza."

And that was it. She was finally letting me in a little bit. Letting me into the past that she was so hesitant and resistant to talk about.

I leaned in and cupped her cheek softly, making her look up at me. Her eyes just looked sad. That wasn't an expression that I was used to seeing on _my _Bella, the girl that swung first and asked questions later and laughed as she did. And it was an expression that I was desperate to keep off her face.

"Well, I'd like to be the person to remember everything about you, even the little things. If you want me to be, that is?" I whispered to her.

Her cheeks flushed with excitement and a bright smile covered her face before she tackled me, knocking me over, and crashed her lips to mine. It took me a second to realize what was happening. When I finally caught up, I kissed her back, cupping the back on her neck and pulling her closer. She ran her fingers through my hair, tugging on it slightly. I groaned and my eyes nearly rolled back into my head when she did that. _She's killing me here._

I pulled away, panting and smiling. "I'm going to take that as a 'yes'."

She smiled, seemingly pleased with this. She rolled off of me without another word and crawled back over to pick up her lunch and opening the box and digging in.

I chuckled and opened my own box and started eating.

She finished her pizza quickly before speaking again. "So..."

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "So... what?"

"How exactly are we going to do this?"

"Do what?" I asked, confused.

"_This_," she said, gesturing between the two of us.

"Oh." _This. _Us. Bella and I. Edward and Bella. Bella and Edward. _That has a nice ring to it. _

Anyway...

I set my pizza down and scooted over so that I was sitting next to her. "Well, people are going to find out eventually, so I guess we'll have to tell them soon. If they find out on their own, it'll just be madness."

She nodded. "True." And then she snorted, a devious smile on her face. "I can't wait to see Tanya's face. It'll be priceless."

I chuckled along with her. "That it will be."

"But are we going to do until then?" she asked, calming herself again.

"Hmm," I said. I reached over and picked her up by the waist and set her down on my lap, wrapping my arms around her waist. _My God, she's so light, so tiny, so perfect. _She sighed softly and leaned back against my chest. "I wouldn't be opposed to keeping this quiet for a little while." I ducked my head down and kissed her neck softly. She shivered slightly at the contact. "I'd like at least a little bit of privacy with you." I nuzzled her neck with my nose. "If you're okay with that."

She turned around in my lap and looked me in the eye. Her eyes had darkened a little and I'm sure mine had as well. "Yeah, I'm okay with that," she said, her voice just a little huskier than normal.

"Good," I said before kissing her again.

She sighed into the kiss before pulling away. "Can we move up into the hammock? My ass is wet and I'm not very comfortable with that."

I chuckled and lifted her off of my lap. "Sure."

She smiled and helped pull me up and we moved over to the hammock. I climbed in first and then helped her climb in beside me, thankfully without flipping us both out of it.

Trust me, that hurts like a bitch.

When we were finally settled she was laying on her side, her head resting against my chest and her finger traced lazy circles on my chest. I had one arm wrapped around her waist. My other hand was running through her hair gently.

She sighed quietly, but didn't say anything. She closed her eyes and just laid there, looking at peace for the first time since I met her. I just watched her peaceful, angel-like face. _My God, she was beautiful._ I can't stay away from her. I didn't know how I was going to pretend that I didn't feel a thing for her while we were in school.

But I knew that I would have to for the sake of Bella's and my privacy. I wanted at least a couple weeks to keep her to myself.

We laid there for a little while longer, just enjoying each other's company. Then she sighed and propped her chin up against my chest and looked up at me. Her free hair came up to trace my face softly before her fingers started running through my hair gently. _So good..._

"I really love your hair," she hummed softly.

My nose scrunched a little. "Really?"

She giggled at my expression. "Yeah, it's..." she trailed off, trying to find the right word to describe the mess on top of my head.

"Let me guess. It looks like I've just been fucked," I deadpanned.

She snorted out a laugh and sat up a little. "Well, yes, but it's not just that. It gives you this... _vibe _that only you could give out. I mean, it completely contradicts everything else you do. You're perfect, you have to realize that."

"Bella, I'm not perfect. I'm the farthest thing from it actually," I protested.

She slapped my arm _really freaking hard_ and I jumped. "_Mother-fucking ow!_ What was that for?" I complained.

"I'm trying to compliment you, now hush," she commanded, wagging her finger at me.

"Fine, fine. So violent," I grumbled, rubbing my arm.

She snickered and rolled her eyes before continuing on. "And yes, you are perfect. You're gorgeous. You're freaking brilliant. You're athletic, captain of both the soccer _and _baseball teams. You're have the voice of an angel. You're student council president. And to top it all off, you're a really sweet guy that every girl would die to get their hands on."

I was about to open my mouth to say something, but she kept on going. "But what makes you even more irresistible is that you've got this underlying "bad boy" vibe going for you too. You walk around with you're hair all tousled and freshly-fucked like. And then you always look like you're up to something. I can see it in your eyes. And don't even get me started on your smile. Every time you smile, everything with girl parts in the immediate vicinity swoons. It's like your way of saying "yes, I am an angel and I will willingly fall straight from heaven into your bed." It's just not fair for one guy to have that much power over the female population of the world."

I blinked at her for a second. And the next thing I know, we're both on the ground and I'm laughing my ass off. I just couldn't help it. She cracked me up with her rambling.

And that was the most she had ever spoken at one time. When she had started channeling Alice on a sugar high was beyond me, but it was freaking hilarious nonetheless.

I finally got ahold of myself and looked up at her. She was sitting up and her arms were crossed over her chest, her eyebrow cocked at me. "Are you fucking finished?" she asked testily.

I chuckled a little more as I sat up and nodded. "Yes, I'm done."

She rolled her eyes at me. "For someone who's always asking for compliments, you're not very good at taking them," she pouted.

I snorted and pulled her to me, lifting her into my lap. "I'm sorry, baby. And thank you. But the way you see me is kind of ridiculous. I'm not this perfect angel that everyone's built me up to be."

She turned in my lap and gave me a look. "Be that as it may, you're pretty close to it. Well, I think so anyway," she said softly.

I pulled her closer and nuzzled her neck softly. "Baby, if I'm perfect, then it's because I'm perfect for you. And you're perfect for me."

She looked at me incredulously. "See, that right there just sealed the deal for me. You're perfect. Don't even try to deny it. No one says that kind of stuff unless they're perfect. And I'm _definitely _not perfect. That's you're department."

It was my turn to roll my eyes. "You don't see yourself clearly, baby."

She scoffed and tried to turn her head away, but I turned her face back to mine with a finger. "Bella, you're brilliant and beautiful and sassy and you've got enough attitude for the both of us. You're kind of crazy and you have a few anger management problems, but I like you that way. And you've got a damn good right hook. Your language could make a sailor blush, but all of that just adds to your charm. You're different. And that's what makes you amazing. All of that just makes you even more perfect in my eyes."

Her cheeks flushed pink and she ducked her head. And here was a side of Bella that almost no one got to see. The shy, teenage girl. And it was probably the most adorable thing I had ever seen.

I lifted her up again and turned her towards me. I lifted her face to mine and looked into her eyes. "You're everything I could ever want in a girl and you come in a fuck awesome, kickass, ball-busting package." I dipped my face down and kissed the tip of her nose softly. "And I wouldn't have you any other way."

Bella smiled softly and nuzzled her face into my neck. "You're really freaking sweet, you know that," she whispered.

I sighed playfully. "It's why all the girls want me."

She giggled and slapped my chest softly. "And really freaking arrogant too."

"But you like me that way," I said against the top of her head.

She sighed against my neck. "I guess I do."

I chuckled and pressed a kiss to her temple and wrapped my arms tighter around her waist. She let out the first contented sigh that I had ever heard slip from her lips and she settled against my chest, her face semi-buried into my neck, her arms wound around my waist.

_Yeah, I could get used to this._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Aww, aren't they sweet? I think so. I hope you liked it. Review, please. They make me write a wee bit faster than normal.**

**Thanks, peeps. I'll try to update in a more timely manner, but you never know with real life going on.**

**Until next time,**

**Cat :)**


	15. Ch 14 Secrecy's a B

_**Let the Games Begin**_

**A/N: Alright. I know, I suck for making you all wait this long. But RL's a bitch and a demanding one at that. All I can say is that I'm sorry and I hope that this extra long chapter makes up for my absence. **

_Chapter 14_

_Secrecy's A Bitch, But I'm a Bigger One_

* * *

><p><em><strong>(BPOV)<strong>_

Edward and I spent the rest of the day in the clearing, just talking and laughing and... other things. Like kissing the crap out of each other. I really couldn't stop kissing him. I would kiss him all day long without stopping to breathe if I could get away with it.

It's all his fault anyway. If it wasn't for all of his amazingness and awesomeness and his crazy sexy ass, I wouldn't want to do any of this. Okay, that's a lie. I would totally be all over him anyway, but still.

He had to go and say all of that sweet stuff and now I can't get enough of him. As I said before, he was perfect and I can't stay away from him now. Now that he said that he wanted me too.

And he really was perfect. And neither of us could stay away from each other. Literally. It's been two weeks since we started seeing each other and we haven't been able to keep our hands off of one another.

We might have a problem. But whatever.

And I know what you're thinking. It can't be that bad, right? Being away from him? I know, I know. I see him everyday, so it's not like he's on the other side of the world. (Just the other side of the classroom.) And we text each other during class and call each other at night, but come on, _look at the boy_. You see that? All of that gorgeousness can only be denied for so long.

But we held it together... sort of. Okay, we _tried_. That's something, right?

Okay, let me explain.

After that day in the clearing, we headed back to our dorms. We snuck another quick kiss in before we parted ways and everything was fine and freaking dandy.

And on Sunday, we talked on the phone for basically the entire day, getting to know we other better.

And let me just say that Edward sounds just as sexy over the phone as he does in person. Just throwing that out there.

But I digress.

And that was wonderful, it really was, but I'll admit it. I missed him. I needed to be with him. Ever since that first day in the clearing, I hadn't felt completely... right unless I saw him at least once before the day was out.

And now that we've kissed again and I now had a first hand memory of his lips on mine, it was harder to think of anything _other _than kissing his gorgeous self.

And that, my friends, is what got us into a bit of trouble.

_**Monday, Day 1**_

It was just a regular old Monday, except for the fact that I now had a fuck awesome sorta boyfriend now.

We told ourselves that we couldn't act any different than we had before because then everyone would know that something was up. You don't go from hating someone to kissing the crap out of them over night. Someone might notice that.

And we wanted to remain unnoticed. Well, as unnoticed as Edward could be. We might have been together, but that didn't change the fact that he was still the most attractive guy here. And someone as attractive as Edward didn't go unnoticed. Girls still came up to talk to him, or rather feel him up, and guys still tried to be his best friend.

The guys didn't bother me. It was the skanks that thought that they could touch my boyfriend without getting pussy punched that bothered me. But, alas, they didn't know he was my boyfriend. Sort of boyfriend... boyfriend... oh, I don't know.

So I couldn't actually say anything to them without drawing unwanted attention to Edward and myself. So I watched and plotted all of their slow and very painful deaths. There might have even been a diagram or two.

Because our relationship (if you could call it that) was so new, we didn't want to put too much pressure on ourselves. Until we realized that we found it incredibly difficult to stay away from each other.

On Sunday, I thought that I would be fine. Edward told me that _he_ would be fine. And we were great... until we saw each other at breakfast the next morning.

I walked in and scanned the room for him and he was already there, sitting at his normal table. His eyes flashed up and locked with mine. A smile started to slip onto his face, but he caught himself and looked away quickly. I coughed to cover my snicker and headed towards the line.

I made my way over to my table and sat down. Everyone was talking about something that I couldn't really focus on because I was staring at Edward. On occasion his eyes would flash up and meet mine and I would quickly look away. But then I would look up again and _he _would be staring at _me_. And then he would quickly look away. It was a vicious cycle.

I got up a few minutes before the warning bell and made my way out of the cafeteria. I was about to start walking over to my first class when a hand shot out from behind a building and grabbed me. I squeaked before a hand flew over my mouth to stop the sound. I spun around and found Edward standing there. I hadn't even seen him get up to leave.

"Edward, what the hell?" I whisper yelled.

"Sorry, baby, I just wanted to see you. Please don't be mad," he said, pouting a little.

Now there's something you need to know about Edward's pout. It could get him anything. And I'm talking _anything_, he is just _that freaking_ adorable. So I couldn't say no to him. _Damn that pout._

I sighed. "I'm not mad. But you need to work on your stealth if we don't want to get caught. Eventually someone is going to notice if we keep disappearing behind buildings."

"True, but come on, Bella. I just wanted to see you," he said.

_If anyone had ever denied him anything, then I would eat my freaking shoe._

I gave him a look that told him I didn't approve, but he knew that I had given in. He smiled and placed his hands on my waist and pulled me to him. He bent down and pressed a soft kiss against my lips. "Good morning, pretty girl," he whispered against my lips.

I smiled against his and kissed him again. "Good morning to you too."

"I missed you," he said, pulling my closer to him.

I rested my head against his chest and wrapped my arms around his waist. "It's only been a day," I said teasingly, a pleased smile spreading across my face.

"So," he said. "That doesn't mean anything. I like being around you. You're one of the only people that really knows me, so it's understandable that I want to be near you, right?"

He was pouting again, I could tell. I didn't even have to look up.

"Of course, baby," I said. "But we've got to get to class now. I'll text you later, alright?"

He sighed and squeezed me softly before letting go. "Fine." He leaned down and kissed me softly once more before letting me go.

I smiled softly at him before turning to leave. I had just turned around when he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to him, spinning me around and crashing his lips into mine. I laughed softly against his lips and kissed him back, running my hands through his hair.

He finally pulled away with a reluctant sigh. "Okay, now go before I lose the rest of my control," he grumbled, a slight scowl on his face.

I giggled and stood on my toes to kiss his cheek softly before scurrying out from in between the buildings.

_**Tuesday, Day 2**_

Later Monday night, Edward called me after his practice and we talked. I don't think I've ever giggled so much in my entire life. _Ugh, he's turning me into such a girl._

But I couldn't help it. He was so funny and sweet and adorable, I couldn't not giggle. It's like an immediate reaction. Edward says something cute. Girls giggle. Such is the way of life.

But the next day, I was the one that jumped him. Fourth period had just ended and I practically ran out of the room as soon as the bell rang. I walked quickly over to the girls bathroom and waited. As it turned out, Edward's fourth period class was really close to mine and he always took his time leaving class. He was probably the only student here that could be late to every class and not have a single tardy marked on his record.

I peeked my head out from the bathroom and saw him coming towards me, his head down as he tried to get his notebook to fit into his bag.

As soon as he walked by the bathroom, I shot my arm out and grabbed him by his jacket and pulled him into the bathroom with me. He stumbled a little as I shoved him farther into the bathroom. I spun around and shut the door quickly, locking it behind me.

He looked up, shocked. "Bella? What's-"

I grabbed his bag from his hands and dropped it onto the ground before pushing him up against the wall and crashing my lips against his, effectively cutting him off. He was still for a moment, probably still shocked by my actions, before he started kissing me back just as fervently. His hand came up to my hair, pulling on the hair tie until my hair tumbled out of the bun I had thrown it into this morning. He wound his fingers into my hair and pulled me closer. My hands snaked up his body, across his shoulders before finally stopping in his hair. One of his hands left my hair and trailed down my back. His large hand snaked its way under my shirt and my skin tingled at the skin to skin contact.

We finally broke apart, both of us breathing heavily. My hair was surely a mess now and his was sticking up in all directions.

"Hello to you too," he said as he caught his breath, a smile on his face.

"I would say I'm sorry for jumping you, but I'm not," I said.

He snorted and pulled me to his chest. "Good because I'm the farthest thing from sorry right now."

I smiled and kissed him again, only softer this time. The bell rang then. I groaned and laid my forehead against his chest. "Why did we think this was a good idea?" I mumbled against his chest.

He stroked my hair and kissed the top of my head. "Because we want some privacy and you know that won't happen if everyone knows," he sighed. "But I'm starting to think that I'd rather deal with everyone else, than have to be tackled into bathrooms to make-out. We could totally do that in public."

I snorted. Mr. "I'm Afraid of Girl Cooties" wants to make-out in public. This is a strange turn of events. "In public? Really?"

"Well, not in public, but not in a bathroom either. I'd rather do it out there than in here," he said, shrugging.

I looked around the obnoxiously pink and white bathroom and shuddered. "I see what you mean."

He laughed and kissed my forehead. "Just a little while longer, pretty girl. I want to be able to enjoy being with you without everyone else butting in, even if it's just for a little while."

I sighed and nodded. "Alright, but if I see another one of those whores touch you again, you better get out of the way because I'm gonna start hurting some people."

"Yes, baby," he chuckled.

_**Thursday, Day 4**_

I was walking out of the cafeteria after lunch and was assaulted with the sight of Tanya backing Edward up against the wall. He looked a little bit irritated, a pinch terrified, but mostly pissed.

I don't think I've ever seen him ever get mad at a girl before (well, except Tanya, but she wasn't exactly what you'd call a lady, and me for that little while. I guess I deserved that though).

I clenched my jaw at the sight. Why couldn't she get it through her thick skull that he didn't want her? I clearly hinted that he and I were together. Only a moron wouldn't have been able to see what I was implying.

I glanced around to see if anyone else was in the vicinity. No one else was around, so I ambled my way over to them.

Once I was behind Tanya, Edward saw me over her shoulder. He visibly relaxed, but he didn't drop his pissed expression, otherwise Tanya would have misinterpreted him. I then may or may not have rammed my shoulder into her back, knocking her off balance and onto the ground with a shriek.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," I apologized dramatically. "I didn't see you there."

"You _bitch_," she screeched. "You ruined my manicure!"

_Le gasp! Not the manicure! _"I'm truly sorry. Maybe next time you'll move out of the way when people are walking," I simpered at her.

"_Ugh!_ Eddie, do something!" she whined. Edward just rolled his eyes and leaned back against the building with his arms crossed over his chest. _His broad, muscular, totally lickable chest. What I wouldn't give be able to rip that shirt off and -_

_Whoa, down girl. Don't attack him._

I took a deep breath and smirked down at her. "It seems you're on your own, chika."

She shrieked again and pulled herself up and stormed off, cursing me under her breath. I couldn't control the giggles that slipped through my lips. I glanced at Edward and he was just shaking his head and laughing under his breath.

He glanced around before reaching down to grab my hand and pulling me to the other side of the building, hiding us from view. And then his lips were on mine. I gasped in surprise and he slipped his tongue into my mouth. He snaked his arms around me, pulling me against him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling myself up his body, trying to get myself as close to him as possible.

I ran my fingers slowly through his hair, pulling at the strands. He groaned into my mouth and pulled me closer. His hand slipped down my back and landed on my ass. My eyes flew open in surprise. _This is new. _He gave it a soft squeeze and it was my turn to groan. _I like new._

While I loved it when Edward was his usual gentlemanly self, I loved his other, not so gentlemanly side just as much. He made my body light on fire and my bones turn to mush. He would give me a look full of smoldering eyes and naughty smirks, and I was done for.

He was the first to pull away, breathing heavily. I wasn't any better. He kept his lips on me though. He kissed his way down my jaw and my neck, coming back up to kiss the spot right behind my ear. My knees nearly buckled. _God, he is going to be the death of me. _

Edward's breathing finally slowed back to normal. "You, my crazy beautiful girl, are going to be the death of me," he whispered huskily against my ear.

And that was it. He broke me. I was a quivering mess right now. And it was all his fault.

"Not if you don't kill me first," I breathed. I clung to him, trying to hold myself up. He chuckled softly and held me up, kissing my cheek softly.

The bell rang, breaking up our moment. He sighed and rested his head against my shoulder before standing up again.

He gave me one more heart-stopping kiss before slipping away and meshing into the sea of students.

_**Monday, Day 8**_

As the week progressed, both Edward and I were both quickly becoming crazy from wanting each other.

Some would say it was the fact that we had to stay away from each other that was causing us to basically pine for each other.

But I had to disagree. It was all Edward. If he wasn't so damn irresistible, then I wouldn't have to climb the walls every fucking day to keep myself from finally falling off my rocker.

We eventually got to the point where we would just sneak out of class to see each other. This did not always turn out well.

Like the time that we attempted to sneak out of Lit. The sneaking out wasn't the problem. It was getting back to class that nearly bit us in the ass.

"Mrs. Young, I apologize for disturbing you, but it seems that I've forgotten my book in my room. I was wondering if maybe I could run and get it," Edward asked just before class started.

"Sure thing, Edward. Be quick about it though," Mrs. Young said.

"I will. Thank you, ma'am," he said before turning to head out the door. He flicked his eyes over to me and I knew what he wanted me to do.

"Mrs. Young, may I use the restroom?" I asked politely.

"Sure, Bella. Hurry back though," she said before turning back to the board.

"Thank you," I said. I hopped out of my seat and headed towards the bathroom. I was about to turn down the hall when a door opened and I was pulled inside. I squeaked in surprise. A hand came up and covered my mouth. I whipped around to find Edward holding onto me.

I groaned. "Seriously, Edward? You need to work on the whole stealth thing."

He chuckled. "I'll get right on that." He cocked an eyebrow and a smirk spread over his lips. "Or... I could make-out with this incredibly gorgeous girl that I just happened to snag."

I grinned up at him in spite of myself. He was too cute for words.

I looked around the small room that we were standing in and I just shook my head. "Really, pretty boy? A janitor's closet? Can we be anymore cliche?" I asked, laughing softly.

He just chuckled and shrugged. "Hush, woman. Take what you can get."

I rolled my eyes at him and wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down to me. "Then give it to me," I breathed against his lips.

"With pleasure," he breathed back before closing the distance between our lips and kissing me softly. His lips moved against mine, their pace and pressure steadily increasing. His hands wandered all over my body. Up and down my back. Tangled in my hair. Sliding back down towards my ass.

_Man, he really liked my ass. _I can't really say anything though. I'm rather fond of his as well.

My hands moved up and down his chest, fingers sliding over his toned muscles. They moved around to his back. I could feel each rock hard muscle contract and flex underneath my hands. I finally snaked my hands down his body to his ass and gave it a squeeze. He groaned into my mouth and gave me a squeeze in return, making me moan like a whore into his mouth.

The way he touched me set me on fire. It was like whenever he was near, my entire body went up in flames. I needed to get that under control, but for the life of me I didn't want to. I hadn't ever felt this alive.

And it was all because of Edward.

Eventually, we had to breathe, so we pulled away from each other, gasping for air. I attempted to catch my breath while Edward trailed kisses down my jaw back towards the spot just below my ear. When he got there, I could feel my body going weak. I don't know what it is about that spot, but every time he even got close to there, I just couldn't control my body.

Once I caught my breath enough to stop my chest from heaving up and down, I grabbed his face and brought his lips back to mine. I tangled my fingers into his hair and pulled gently. He groaned a little against my lips.

Yeah, I had my weak spots. Edward had his. His was his hair. He loved it, I mean _loved _it when I ran my fingers through his hair. It basically made him go boneless. It was nice to know I had some control over him. He had too much power over me anyway.

We were just about to start up again when the doorknob started rattling. Edward and I froze.

Thank God Edward is a smart boy and locked the door otherwise we would have been busted right then and there.

The knob rattled for a little while longer before it stopped. I heard someone grumble on the other side of the door before a pair of footsteps could be heard walking away.

We waited a minute before we let out the breathes that we had been holding.

"I think that's a sign," I whispered.

Edward nodded. "Yeah, probably." He gave me one more kiss before letting me go. "You go first. You should have been back by now."

I nodded and slowly opened the door and poked my head out the door to make sure no one was in the hall. I gave Edward a nod and slowly slipped out the door and started walking back to class. I made sure that my hair wasn't a total disaster before I slipped back into the classroom.

I sat back down in my seat and held my breath until Edward walked back into the classroom a few minutes later.

He gave Mrs. Young a nod and held up his book. _Where the hell did that come from? _He headed back to his seat and slipped into it, his eyes not once looking over at me.

Just as Mrs. Young started up her lecture, I heard Edward's friend Seth lean over towards him.

"Dude, what happened to your head?"

_**Friday, Day 12**_

We were at lunch and Edward and I had started up our now usual cycle of looking at/looking away from each other, when the intercom came on.

"_Good afternoon, students and faculty_," chirped the overly enthusiastic voice of Mr. Sharp, our music teacher. "_I just wanted to let you know that the music department's annual recital will be in two weeks. So come out and watch your fellow students rock out. It'll be loads of fun! See you there!_"

"Hey, Eddie, you ready for your big debut?" Emmett teased loudly from across the cafeteria.

I swear every girl in the room gasped and promptly dropped what they were doing and turned to stare dreamily (more like lustfully) at my boyfriend. Who was now turning a lovely shade of red and sinking into his chair, looking like he'd like for the floor to swallow him whole.

And you wanna know what they're all thinking about? They're all imagining my boyfriend up on stage, looking like the rockstar that he is. In their minds, he's probably singing to them. Or he's doing something really really naughty, like fucking them on stage or trashing his dressing room... and then fucking them.

And it really, _really _pissed me the fuck off. Because one, my Edward would never fuck someone on stage. He's too much of a gentleman to do that and I like him that way. Two, he would never trash a dressing room. He would find that rude. And three, if he was singing to anyone, it would be me. He told me so himself and done so many times before.

And I was going to make sure that all of these skanks knew that Edward was off limits. He was _mine_. Just like I was his.

They were going to learn the easy way or the hard way. It didn't really matter to me as long as they kept their disease-ridden, ho-skank asses away from him.

I pulled my phone out and started typing furiously.

_**Meet me behind the music building after school.**_

I sent the text to Edward and then got up and left the cafeteria, knowing that if I stayed any longer, I was going to cut a bitch.

I glared my way through the rest of the school day, shooting my most deadly glare at anything in a skirt that even looked in Edward's direction.

And yes, I realize I'm acting like a psycho, jealous girlfriend, but I didn't care. In fact, I was a psycho, jealous girlfriend because I was tired of these hoes rubbing up on my boyfriend like cats in heat.

Edward kept glancing at me, a concerned look on his face, but he didn't say anything. He gave me a nod to let me know that he had gotten my text.

Finally the bell rang and I nearly ran out of the room. I quickly snuck around to the back of the building. I tapped my foot impatiently until I heard a pair of footsteps coming my way.

_**(EPOV)**_

The past two weeks have been nothing short of pure, unadulterated torture and Bella was not helping. At all. She was too fucking tempting for her own goddamn good.

Every time I see her or, hell, even think of her, my mind goes into a freaking tizzy. All I can do is think about her and the guys were starting to notice. And it doesn't helped that I looked like I had just gotten jumped by some groupies every time I left her either.

Not that Bella was a groupie. God no. She'd have my balls in a jar if she heard me call her that.

But I digress.

Anyway, for the past two weeks, my clothing has been crumpled and my hair has been an even bigger disaster that usual. Bella had taken a liking to running her fingers through it, making it stick up at even odder angles. But I wasn't going to complain. I loved that shit and I wasn't going to stop her.

And after every little rendezvous with Bella, my hair was a complete disaster. I tried in vain to comb it back into some sort of order, but it was useless.

And, as I said before, the guys never failed to notice.

"Dude, what happened to your head?"

"Did you stick your head in a blender?"

"Have the gulls finally decided to take up residency on your head?"

For two weeks, I've heard those comments. And they were each answered with the bird and a whack to the back of the head.

No time to complain about that now. I had been summoned by before mentioned sort of girlfriend.

I walked normally out of the music building and then snuck to the back. And waiting for me was a very pissed off looking Bella. She was even tapping her foot, something that I knew meant nothing good.

"Hey, baby," I greeted her cautiously.

She huffed and pushed herself off the wall. Her eyes locked onto me before she started talking. "Okay, I'm just going to go ahead and say it."

"Okay..." I trailed off hesitantly.

"I kinda, sorta want to kick all of them in the face," she said.

"And who is "them" exactly?" I asked. She was starting to worry me a little.

"All of those sluts that keep trying to get into your pants," she said outright.

_Oh, that's what she's getting at. _"Ah, them. Yes, well it's not like I'm encouraging it," I said defensively.

"Actually, you are, but you just don't know it," she said. _And... what the fuck?_

"And how exactly am I doing that?" I asked, confused.

"Well, you've got the whole jock thing going for you, so that's where the cheerleaders and the sports groupies come from. And then there's the student council thing, so that's where the power hungry bitches come from. And then you have the smart kid thing, which means that you'll probably end up with an awesome job with some sort of crazy insane salary, which brings in the gold diggers. And now, they just found out about the music thing and every girl has some sort of rockstar fantasy and you just landed in the middle of a shit ton of them. And let's not forget that you look like a fucking male model in absolutely _everything_ you wear. Your hair looks like you just had the best sex of your young life every time you walk out the fucking door, which is a total turn on, by the way. And your smile can literally disintegrate panties on the spot. And the best part is that you don't even know you're doing any of it, which I find very cute and endearing, but that's beside the point. The point is that there are a lot of girls that want you and still think that they have a shot with you because they don't know that we're dating," she rambled all in one breath, complete with wild hand gestures and high pitched squeaks.

I blinked at her. It was really all I could do at the moment. I was in shock. When did my almost girlfriend start channeling my hyperactive pixie of a cousin?

"Okay..." was the only thing that came to mind. "So you want to tell everyone we're dating?"

"Yes," was all she said.

"Okay," I said, shaking my head as I tried to clear it. "That's fine."

"Really?" she asked. "Are you sure?"

I nodded and walked over to her. "Yeah, it's time. I can't stay away from you anymore." I pulled her into my arms and nuzzled my face into her neck. "You drive me fucking crazy."

She scoffed. "And what do you think you've been doing to me? I nearly committed multiple homicides this week. You are too sexy for your own good."

I snorted. "Whatever." And then I smirked and cocked an eyebrow at her. "You think I'm sexy?"

She groaned and rolled her eyes. "Like your ego needs to get any bigger, but yeah, I think your sexy and fuckhot and all that other shit."

"Sexy _and _fuckhot? Wow, you know how to make a guy feel good about himself. I'll take those," I said, teasing her. "And just so you know-" I leaned down and whispered into her ear. "I think you're the sexiest, most beautiful girl in the entire world. You make me feel so good, baby." I pressed a soft kiss to the sensitive spot just below her ear.

She shivered a little against me. I couldn't hold back the smirk. She liked it when I whispered into her ear. And I liked whispering to her. She basically went boneless and I had to hold her up, something that I didn't mind doing at all. She was so tiny and sweet, I just wanted to take her back to my room and never let her go.

And the ear thing? Worked every time. Why do you think she hasn't punched me yet?

She took an unsteady breath and held onto my shoulders. "You, Mr. Masen, are going to be the death of me. Now, are you really okay with this?"

I nodded. "Yes, Bella. I want everyone to know that we're together. I want them all to be jealous that I've got the most amazing girl here."

She snorted. "I don't know about that, but the jealousy thing I like. I already know the girls are going to freak. They all think that I hate you and that I don't deserve to be around you or something." She rolled her eyes.

"Now _that_ is insanity. I'm the one that doesn't deserve you," I said, brushing away a loose lock of hair away from her beautiful face.

She sighed and just shook her head. "We could discuss this all day and never agree."

"Then we'll agree to disagree then," I said.

She shrugged. "Good enough for me." Then her corner of her lips quirked into a smirk. "Now, kiss me."

"Anything for you, pretty girl," I said before bringing my lips down on hers.

**~x~X~x~**

_**Saturday, Day 13**_

Today was the day. The day that everyone would know that Bella was mine. But first I had to get through the game. I wasn't worried. I was so hyped up because of Bella's and my upcoming reveal, that I didn't have anymore energy to worry.

I wasn't hiding my anxiousness very well. I was tapping my feet and drumming my hands against my legs.

The guys looked at me like I was crazy. "Dude, what's up with you? Do you need to take a potty break?" Seth gibed.

I stilled my hands and feet and shot him a look. "No, but thanks for asking, douchebag," I retorted.

He snorted. "Seriously, what's going on with you? You've been acting weird lately."

I just shook my head. "Nothing's wrong with me. I'm fine. I just want to start the game," I lied. Well, it wasn't a complete lie. I did want to start the game and then I wanted it to end quickly so I could get back to my girl.

Coach came in the room and gave his speech before sending us onto the field. I looked into the stands for Bella. There were so many people there that it was difficult to pick out anyone, but then I saw the bright blue streaks that only my girl had.

She was standing at the front of the stands and leaning against the railing behind her. Alice and Rose were sitting down in front of her. I knew she was telling them a story because her hands were flying around as she spoke, something that she was known for.

She was wearing the same shirt as before, the one with my name and number across the back. Her shorts were... well, short and showed off her ass. I bit my lip to keep in the moan that wanted to slip out. She was too sexy for her own good. And she had a really fucking sexy ass.

She was - apparently - very devoted to her story because I could tell that she was completely oblivious to the people around her. Some girls were shooting glares at her. Others staring at her crazy movements. Guys were staring at her chest and her ass and for the first time in my life, I felt jealous. It ran through me like fire, burning me from the inside out. I wanted to run over there and claim her as mine.

But that would have to wait. I had to kick some ass first. Not the asses I wanted to kick at the moment, but they would do for the time being.

Bella turned around then and her eyes met mine. She smiled softly and winked at me before clearing her face and flicking me off.

I snorted to myself and shook my head at her. She smirked and blew me a kiss. I rolled my eyes at her and tried to control the smile that was attempting to spread across my face. She was really playing up our "rivalry" right now because of all the people that were hanging around.

I think she just liked to flick people off.

But I digress.

Coach called us into the huddle then, so I gave Bella a wink before heading towards the huddle. "Alright, guys, you know what you're doing. Get in there and do it," Coach said.

We broke the huddle and took our positions on the field. The ref came to the middle of the field and stood between the other team's captain and me. He blew his whistle and then the game began.

The first fifteen minutes of the game went pretty well. They hadn't scored on us and we were up a goal.

The other team had called a time out, so we were standing in our huddle. Coach finished his speech quickly and sent us back to the field.

Jazz and I walked by the other team's huddle and I noticed that two of the team members weren't paying attention to their coach. Both of their eyes were focused on the stands.

"Hey, check out the freaky chick in the number six shirt," I overheard one of the other team's players say to his teammate. "She's freaking hot, man. Look at the ass on that girl."

I felt my hands curl into tight fists at my sides.

_Okay. He has to die._

No one looked at Bella's ass but me. That was my ass.

Hey, I'm allowed to be possessive. I know for sure that Bella is. She's the one that nearly committed murder, not me.

Anyway... back to the douche that I needed to kill... _fine_, seriously maim, then. _Happy?_

Jazz noticed my sudden changed in demeanor and shot me a look. "You okay, man?" he asked hesitantly.

I shot the douche a glare and attempted to calm myself for a moment. "Yeah, I'm fine," I ground out before heading back onto the field.

The ref blew the whistle and everyone took their positions on the field. The ref blew the whistle again and one of the guys through the ball in.

Seth picked it up and started running down the field. He passed it off, but one of the other team's players got to it first. The douche that I was going to kill... maim. Whatever.

I ran up beside him and I may or may not have pretended to stumble and ram right into him, making him lose his balance and crash into the ground.

"Oh, that's my bad, man," I said, not a hint of apology in my voice. "Lost my balance."

He glared up at me. He looked like he was thinking about calling the ref over, but I sent him my own glare. Yeah, that shut him up really quick. He got up off the ground and turned to run after the ball. Too bad we had already scored.

"Better luck next time, buddy," I called before running back to the huddle.

After that the game ran pretty smoothly. Meaning I didn't heard any other comments about my girl and I didn't feel the urge to tackle anyone else.

We ended up winning two to zero. Coach congratulated us and told us to hit the showers.

I ran back to the locker room and showered and dressed quickly, wanting to get to Bella as soon as possible. I threw on my shirt and pants and grabbed my bag and sped out of the locker room.

"Dude, what's the rush?" Seth called after me.

I ignored him and pushed my way through the door and looked around for my girl. I finally spotted her, standing with her back to me as she talked with Alice and Rose.

I walked quickly over to her, dropped my bag and pulled her legs out from under her, cradling her in my arms bridle style. Her squeak of surprise was cut off by my lips as I crashed them into hers.

It took her a moment to catch up, but when she did... oh, she caught up fast. She smiled against my lips and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling herself closer and humming with pleasure. She ran her fingers through my hair, making it stand on end. Again. But you wouldn't be hearing me complain.

She hummed in pleasure against my lips just before pulling away. "That was our big reveal?" she asked, a smirk on her face.

I shrugged. "I figured simple was better. Less talking, more action."

She threw her head back and laughed. "How very straight forward of you. I like it." She smirked salaciously. "Now, how about you give me a little more of that action you were talking about?"

I gave her my own smirk. "My pleasure," I said before capturing her lips with mine again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, I hope you enjoyed that. I'm in the process of writing the next chapter as we speak. I'll try not to take three months to update this time. Thanks to all of you who decided to stick around. It means a lot.**

**Until next time,**

**Cat :)**


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